Department for Transport

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 223358, how many UK-based (a) ratings and (b) officers will be employed on the re-named Allseas vessel contracted by Shell to carry out major decommissioning work in the Brent Field.

Mr John Hayes: The nationality/country of residence of the crew members for an individual vessel is entirely a commercial decision and this information is not provided to government.

Northern Rail

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the cost of replacing Pacer trains in the Northern rail franchise due to start in February 2016.

Claire Perry: In putting together the business base for the new Northern rail franchise, we have discussed the options for phasing out Pacers with the Treasury. Our specifications for the Northern franchise will be set out in the Invitation to Tender document, which will be published shortly.

Rescue Services: Fareham

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the breakdown of Fareham Maritime Operations Centre's VHF radio network on 2 February 2015, how long the breakdown lasted; which body of water was affected by the breakdown; which communications systems were affected by the breakdown; and what information his Department holds on attempts by vessels on the waters affected during the period of the breakdown to make contact with the Coastguard Service using the affected communications networks.

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of whether the Coastguard Service's VHF radio systems are fit for purpose (a) generally and (b) in relation to the work of the Maritime Operations Centre at Fareham.

Mr John Hayes: There were no issues experienced with the VHF radio network on 2 February 2015. However, on 8 February 2015 there was a temporary reduction in HM Coastguard’s ability to broadcast on VHF Channel 16 from Marsland Mouth, Cornwall to Beachy Head, East Sussex and River Towey, Carmarthen to Mull of Galloway. This lasted for 1 hour 47 minutes. During this time the 999 service and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) Distress alert systems were unaffected. There was no reduction in HM Coastguard’s ability to task rescue resources, such as lifeboats, volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams or SAR Helicopters, to any incident around the coast. HM Coastguard’s well established Business Continuity Plans allowed remedial action to be promptly undertaken and enabled vessels on the waters affected during the period of the breakdown to make contact with the Coastguard Service. The specific issue that caused the reduced ability to broadcast on VHF Channel 16 has now been resolved. The Coastguard services (VHF systems) are currently fit for purpose both (a) generally and (b) specifically for the new national network.

First Great Western

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish evidence held by his Department supporting the conclusion that passengers on Great Western services do not wish to have buffet cars on the new Intercity Express Programme trains.

Claire Perry: The catering provision in the Great Western Inter City Express fleet reflects the preferences of the operator who are closest to their passengers’ priorities. It is a matter for First Great Western whether they wish to release the information supporting the decision.

First Great Western

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to sign off the Great Western direct award.

Claire Perry: We currently expect to conclude negotiations with First Great Western, and finalise the second Directly Awarded franchise contract during March 2015, for the provision of services from September 2015.

First Great Western

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total amount his Department has spent on consultant fees for the Great Western direct award to date.

Claire Perry: The total amount the Department has spent on consultancy fees for the Great Western Direct Award (DA) from November 2012 to date (January 2015) is approximately £1.6m. This amount is inclusive of VAT.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total amount his Department has spent on consultant fees relating to the Intercity Express Programme to date.

Claire Perry: From 2005 to October 2009, £21m was spent. Since then further spend has been incurred taking the total as at February 2015 to £46m.

First Great Western

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Great Western direct award will specify that guards will be responsible for the opening and closing of doors on the new Intercity Express Programme trains.

Claire Perry: Negotiations are continuing between the Department for Transport and First Great Western over the detail of the next franchise Direct Award. As a matter of general policy, the Department does not specify numbers of staff or how they should be deployed as this is an operational matter; which the train operator is better placed to manage and understand. However, we do support the resilience and efficiency offered by a train fleet and infrastructure which can operate as Driver Only Operation (DOO) as set out in the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) Specification which is in the public domain.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Hitachi and Agility Trains on future maintenance depots for the new Intercity Express Programme trains in use for (a) Great Western and (b) East Coast services.

Claire Perry: Staffing issues at maintenance depots on the East Coast and Great Western are a matter for Hitachi and the respective Train Operator. The Department does not get involved.

Govia

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Govia in operating the Thameslink franchise.

Claire Perry: The Department’s senior officials attend four weekly meetings with the train operators senior management team, where all aspects of performance under the franchise agreement can be scrutinised and challenged. In terms of Govia Thameslink Railway's (GTR's) delivery of services to passengers, while operational performance on its Great Northern route is robust, performance on its Thameslink route has been poor. Ministers and officials have held a number of meetings with Network Rail, GTR and the Office of Rail Regulation to discuss the poor performance on the Thameslink route. This has resulted in GTR and Network Rail publishing a high level improvement plan on their websites which sets out the actions they are taking to turn things around. They have also committed to updating the plan by the end of February with specific commitments on the outputs that will be delivered. Furthermore, the Department has secured a commitment that Network Rail and GTR shall provide a monthly report on progress towards their committed outputs and publish this on their websites, so that passengers have transparency on what is being delivered. The Government is determined to hold GTR and Network Rail to account for the delivery of their joint initiatives to improve Thameslink performance and, ultimately, provide the levels of service that passengers deserve.

Railways: North of England

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what input Rail North will have into formulating the response to the consultation for the Northern Rail and TransPennine express franchise; and whether this response will be a joint response with his Department.

Claire Perry: We have been working closely with Rail North on the response to the Northern and TransPennine Express consultation, which has been developed jointly and will be published as a joint document.

Railways: North of England

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what powers he has to vary, suspend and terminate the current tendering process for Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchises.

Claire Perry: As part of the Department’s standard procurement process, the Secretary of State expressly reserves the right to make whatever changes he sees fit to the structure and timing of the procurement process or to cancel the process in its entirety at any stage. This arrangement is not particular to the Northern and Transpennine Express franchises.

Railway Stations

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many approvals his Department has given to (a) close and (b) change hours for ticket offices in the last five years.

Claire Perry: 140 changes and 4 closures on the rail network have been approved since May 2010. This information is in the attached spreadsheet. By contrast, between May 2005 and May 2010, approvals were given for reductions in ticket office opening hours at approximately 300 stations with around a further 100 reductions agreed by the train operators with Passenger Focus (and London TravelWatch where appropriate) without needing reference to the Department. In addition, closures were approved at 6 stations. 



224709 - Table showing change to ticket offices
(Excel SpreadSheet, 39.5 KB)

Home Office

Passports

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for (a) passport renewal and (b) a first passport were classified as in progress in each month since June 2014.

James Brokenshire: The work in progress for every month covering the period from June 2014 until January 2015 can be found in the table below categorised as requested.WIP** as at the close of play on the last calendar day of each monthMonth EndFirst passport WIP* Renewal Passports Jun 2014156,263363,594 Jul 2014130,743182,063 Aug 201431,43051,456 Sept 201422,13740,308 Oct 201417,25729,162 Nov 201416,79623,523 Dec 201415,84123,175 Jan 201523,81456,375  * First passports WIP also include lost/stolen passport numbers. It is not possible to split first passport and lost/stolen passport applications at the summary level available.First passport : an applicant applying for their first passport. First time adult applicants are required to attend an interview to confirm their identity (irrespective of whether they are British born or newly naturalised). First time child applications are subject to additional checks compared to a child renewal application. First time applications therefore take longer to process than their renewal equivalents.**WIP Definition Is the total number of applications in the system that have yet to be processed by HMPO and the application is not awaiting a customer response. WIP definition was revised in December 2014 to exclude the following applications: security check query and customer query.WIP excludes: Online applications awaiting declaration forms, BPO/examiner/security check query raised, applicants awaiting interview (and dependents of adults awaiting interview) and applications that have been passed for issue but have yet to be printed. This was revised in December 2014 to exclude the following applications: security check query and customer query.Caveat: Data source: BOXI universe from HMPO Application Management System. Due to the large volume of management information run the data may be subject to change.



Passport progress
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21 KB)

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in her Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Karen Bradley: Managers in the Home Department have received the following guidance on the number of days learning and development, including formal training, that should be provided to staff :"Every civil servant should be spending at least 5 days a year on their own learning and development targeting those skills they most need for their current and future roles."We do not collect data centrally on all aspects of learning and development that are used to develop staff skills nor on training budgets so this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Expenditure in the Home Department on training for the past 3 financial years was:2011/12: £14,860,807 2012/13: £16,986,8682013/14: £24,715,417The increase in training expenditure figures in the last two years was a result of developing skills across the Home Office and in particular training new officers recruited in UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement, Her Majesty’sPassport Office and Border Force.

Children in Care: Asylum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in order to ensure that there is no discrimination against care leavers who were taken into care as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

James Brokenshire: There are no plans to amend the law. The existing legislation ensures that unaccompanied children who apply for asylum receive the same support and care from local authorities under the Children Act 1989 as any other child in need. When a person reaches 18 years of age their position is different if their asylum claims have been finally refused and any appeals dismissed. In these cases, any further support may only be provided if is necessary to do so to prevent a breach of their human rights. This will depend on an assessment of the particular circumstances, but examples include cases where there is an unavoidable obstacle preventing their return to their own countries - for example if they are too sick to travel or need time to obtain a necessary travel document.

Police Stations: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police stations in each constabulary in the North West have been (a) closed and (b) reduced to part time status since June 2010.

Mike Penning: This information is not held centrally. Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including the numbers and operating hours of police stations, are a matter for the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable locally, tailored to the needs of the local community.

Police: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many newly qualified police officers have been employed in (a) Preston and (b) each constabulary in the North West of England in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: The table provided shows the number of new police officers who joined each police force in the North West of England from 2009/10 to 2013/14. These figures include police officer standard direct recruits and police officers who were previously special constables. They exclude transfers and re-joiners.The Home Offices does not collect these statistics below police force area level.   



North West of England new police officers
(Excel SpreadSheet, 11.05 KB)

Firearms: Licensing

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the cost of a gun licence has been set at £50 since 2001; and what the net cost to the public purse of the gun licensing system was, including the cost of background checks, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone: This Government has been clear that the fact firearms licences did not rise in cost from 2001 is unsustainable. That is why we consulted on a series of price increases to enable the police to recover a greater proportion of the costs, without causing undue financial repercussions for licence owners. The Government ran a consultation on a proposed fee increase for firearms licences between 27 November and 29 December 2014. We are currently considering the responses.The former Association of Chief Police Officers previously assessed the cost of gun licences. They estimated that the cost to the taxpayer was £17.2 million in the year 2009-10. Under the Government's proposed fee levels, in conjunction with the introduction of a new e-commerce tool for policing, the aim is that there will be no net cost to the public purse.

Asylum: Syria

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the UK's capacity to provide further resettlement opportunities to Syrian refugees whose individual medical or humanitarian needs cannot be met in refugee camps in Syria's neighbouring countries.

James Brokenshire: With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that substantial humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the largest number of displaced people, rather than larger scale resettlement. We have now pledged £800 million in response to the crisis, and UK funding is providing vital support to hundreds of thousands of people across the region. However, we recognise that there are some very vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively in the region. We therefore launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme to complement our aid by providing protection in the UK to some of those at greatest risk. The scheme is based on need rather than fulfilling a quota, but we have said we expect it to help several hundred people over three years, and we remain firmly on track to achieve that. Groups of Syrians are arriving in the UK on a regular basis under the scheme, including people in severe need of medical care, survivors of torture and violence and women and children at risk. The Government liaises regularly with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding the operation of the VPR scheme. We continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify some of the most vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and bring them to the UK.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted discretionary leave to remain between October 2011 and September 2014 who have subsequently made an application for further leave are awaiting a decision on the subsequent application.

James Brokenshire: The total number of main applicants who have been granted discretionary leave between October 2011 and September 2014, who have made an application for further leave to remain during this specified period is 2901.

Foreign Workers: Domestic Service

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what account she took of the recommendations of (a) the Report of the Modern Slavery Bill Evidence Review presented to her on 16 December 2013 and (b) the report from the Joint Committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill published on 3 April 2014, HC 1019, when establishing the review of migrant domestic worker arrangements.

Karen Bradley: Both reports were considered carefully when establishing the review of the Overseas Domestic Worker visa. That is why the review will focus on all aspects of this visa regime, including the support available to those who are subject to modern slavery offences whilst holding these visas. The Government is determined to ensure that our visa regime does not encourage or facilitate abuse. James Ewins was asked to conduct the review in light of his significant background in tackling modern slavery, including as specialist adviser to the pre-legislative scrutiny Committee and as a member of the steering committee for the Modern Slavery Bill Evidence Review Panel. The Review will report by the end of July 2015.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance his Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not specify how many days training should be available to staff. We adhere to Civil Service guidelines which recommend that staff should aim to do a minimum of five days training a year, however, the amount of time staff spend participating in both informal learning and formal training events will vary according to their role, profession or personal development needs. The amount of time allocated for language training is calculated spearately depending on the operational requirements of the role.

Libya

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Libyan government on the campaign for equitable compensation for victims of IRA terrorism sponsored by Colonel Gaddafi's government and the decision by the Libyan Parliament to revoke a law banning officials from that government from re-entering the political realm.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: While we do not intend to negotiate a compensation settlement with the Libyan authorities, once stability returns, and our Embassy re-opens, we will again encourage the Libyans to engage with UK victims seeking redress, including those seeking compensation and their legal representatives. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the member for Witney (Mr Cameron) is committed to doing this and has asked the National Security Advisor to lead cross-government efforts to engage the Libyans on reconciliation initiatives. The Government will also continue to promote broad and lasting reconciliation between Libya and affected UK communities. The UK has not formally discussed with the House of Representatives their decision on the political isolation law. Only an inclusive political solution can resolve the ongoing hostilities and political polarisation in Libya. The UK has urged all parties to cease all hostilities and support the UN process led by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Bernardino Leon.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in his Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The average number of hours staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have spent participating in learning and development, during the last three financial years were:2013/14 - 51.7 hours per person2012/13 - 43.6 hours per person2011/12 - 43.7 hours per personWe record participation in hours because the length of learning and development varies considerably. This data refers to UK Based Staff development activities only. We do not hold data centrally on the learning and development undertaken by Local Staff employed overseas. To obtain this would incur disproportionate cost.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Like all organisations we invest in training and developing staff. It helps us to provide the best service to the UK and deliver value for the taxpayer. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold central records for all Learning and Development spend. Individual Directorates and overseas Posts each have a devolved budget for learning and development. Amounts vary. To obtain a detailed breakdown of all funding allocated to learning and development will incur disproportionate cost. Based on the records we do hold, the total amount allocated to learning and development during the past 3 years were: 2011-12: £18,931,475 2012-13: £17,722,379 2013-14: £17,805,262 These figures cover the costs of all courses, including language training. It also includes the associated running costs (including salaries) to deliver learning and development in the UK and our 270 overseas posts. The data for 2014/15 is unavailable.

Public Expenditure

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 104 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC 17, what the amount spent was on each instance of business hospitality expenditure totalling more than £500.

Mr David Lidington: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Public Expenditure

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 104 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC 17, what the reasons are for the £8.74 million expenditure listed under other expenditure.

Mr David Lidington: The £8.74 million expenditure listed under ‘other expenditure’ on page 104 of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report and Account 2013-14 is made up of a large number of miscellaneous programme-related costs such as minor maintenance and repairs, and some locally engaged staff costs. These payments do not fit into the other categories listed on page 104, but individually are not large enough to report as separate lines. The sum listed under 'other expenditure' for 2013-14 is lower than in the previous year.

Public Expenditure

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 104 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC 17, what the amount spent was on each instance of property rental expenditure totalling more than £5,000.

Mr David Lidington: During 2013-14, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) paid rental, service and condominium charges for properties in the UK and overseas totalling £83,067,963, of which:Residential accommodation - £47,705,887Non-residential accommodation - £35,362,076Residential accommodation incorporates the rental, service and condominium charges for all FCO staff working overseas, including staff working for Partners Across Government on the FCO overseas network. Non-residential accommodation incorporates the rental, service and condominium charges for offices and ancillary buildings. Any contracts over £10,000 can be found at http://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.To break these figures down further would incur disproportionate costs and payments to private landlords would not be provided as this would be commercially sensitive.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Automation

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on digital employment of trends towards increasing automation in that sector.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of existing (a) jobs and (b) lower-paid and lower-skilled jobs that may be lost in the next 20 years as a result of digitisation and robotics.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Over the last 10 years the ICT sector has grown over two and a half times as fast as the whole economy. In 2013, it contributed £113bn (7.5%) to the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and supported 1.3 million jobs in the UK. Over the next decade, employment in the digital sector is projected to grow significantly faster than employment in other sectors of the economy, while sustained growth is expected in the number of IT specialists employed across the economy. Evidence shows that digital technologies will transform the economy by bringing about efficiency improvements with resulting increases in productivity. This will impact on the composition of the labour market. It is difficult to reliably quantify this impact and estimates vary widely. International studies suggest that whilst demand for certain occupations may be reduced by robotics and automation, many more jobs would be created. For example, a recent study by the International Federation of Robotics estimates that there would be a net gain of jobs as a result of introducing robotics in industry.   The UK labour market is renowned for its flexibility and is well-placed to respond to structural changes. In order to maximise the opportunities presented by digital technologies, the Government is committed to ensuring that individuals are equipped with the digital skills needed for current and future job roles.   We are working in partnership with industry to ensure that our education and training systems are providing the right digital skills. We have reformed the computing curriculum to ensure every young person is prepared for an increasingly digital world and reforms to apprenticeships are enabling employers to set standards that meet their needs. In November, we announced a pilot of short courses, which are accredited by business and provide up-to-date digital skills. In December, the Prime Minister announced a National College for Digital Skills, which will drive up standards in Further Education (FE), and ensure the FE system prepares individuals for the future workforce.

National Careers Service

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people aged between 18 and 24 accessed the National Careers Service through each method of interaction in each of the last three years service user; and what the (a) gender and (b) home region was of each such applicant.

Nick Boles: The attached tables give the number of contacts with people aged 18 to 24 who have accessed the face to face and adult telephone helpline of the National Careers Service over the past 3 years. As this is a record of contacts, if young people have accessed either service multiple times they will have been counted more than once. We are unable to provide a breakdown into gender for the young people’s helpline.  Face to face service Gender  Apr12-Mar13Apr13-Mar14Apr14-Sep14Female79,27483,43436,676Male121,207119,13749,059Not known/not provided584564290Prefer not to say189176144Grand Total201,524203,31186,169Region  Apr12-Mar13Apr13-Mar14Apr14-Sep14East Midlands18,93218,9078,961East of England22,16524,10510,309London28,79826,29610,862North East12,44411,7095,285North West28,29229,36411,811South East27,44828,05510,755South West18,70717,3086,556Unknown Region2,0531,782431West Midlands19,80221,4319,481Yorkshire and The Humber22,61324,35411,718Grand Total201,254203,31186,169Adult Telephone helpline / Online  Gender  Apr12-Mar13Apr13-Mar14Apr14-Sep14Female19,38521,09012,052Male16,09917,0809,090Not known/not provided1196Prefer not to say8210958Grand Total35,57738,28821,206RegionAdult Telephone helpline / Online Apr12-Mar13Apr13-Mar14Apr14-Sep14East Midlands2,5142,6781,501East of England3,1453,4701,889London7,2607,7894,425North East1,4241,486851North West4,9205,2512,843South East4,7695,0302,849South West2,8113,2041,618Unknown Region1,9472,1301,275West Midlands4,0694,1862,238Yorkshire and The Humber2,7183,0641,717Grand Total35,57738,28821,206

Apprentices

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) men and (b) women aged 16 to 24 started an apprenticeship in each sector subject area in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles: As the requested table is large, I have attached an additional document detailing apprenticeship starts for those aged under 25 by gender and sector subject area. 



Apprenticeship starts under 25s
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.05 KB)

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Operational Programmes for 2014-20 have been (a) agreed with and (b) authorised by the European Commission for (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland; and when he expects ESIF for 2014-20 to be released to local enterprise partnerships in each of these areas.

Matthew Hancock: The status of the ESIF Operational Programmes in the United Kingdom is as follows:-   i) England The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) programme for England was formally adopted by the Commission on 13 February 2015.   ii) Wales The Operational Programmes for West Wales & the Valleys ERDF and East Wales ERDF were formally adopted by the Commission on 18 November 2014; the Operational Programmes for West Wales & the Valleys ESF and East Wales ESF were formally adopted by the Commission on 4 December 2014.   iii) Scotland Scotland’s ERDF Operational Programme was formally adopted by the Commission on 11 December 2014 and the Scotland ESF Operational Programme was formally adopted on 12 December 2014.   iv) Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland ERDF and ESF Operational Programmes were formally adopted by the Commission on 12 December 2014.   The UK-wide European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme is under negotiation with the Commission and is expected to be formally adopted during the summer 2015.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission about the capacity of local enterprise partnerships to deliver the European Structural and Investment Funds Operational Programmes for 2014-20 in England; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The European Structural and Investment Funds programmes 2014-20 are an important part of the Government’s long-term economic plan to boost local growth and create jobs across England. Officials from the Managing Authorities for the various European Structural and Investment Funds Programmes and from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are in close contact with the European Commission on an ongoing basis about the development and set up of the 2014-20 programmes in England. The partnership approach we are using for the programmes gives a strong and active advisory role to Local Enterprise Partnerships and to other local partners. At the same time, the Managing Authorities will shoulder the administrative burdens and financial risks involved in running the programmes.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 222042.

Greg Clark: Question 222042 was answered yesterday, 24 February 2015.

Department for International Development

Palestinians

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what financial contribution the Government plans to make to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is currently the third largest donor to the UNRWA General Fund providing £106.5 million between 2012-2015. In response to the Gaza conflict last summer, the UK also provided an additional £9 million to the UNRWA Gaza Flash Appeal. Future funding decisions for contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will be informed by an assessment of need.

Department for Education

Young People: Nottingham

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake an assessment of the costs and benefits to the community in Nottingham of re-establishing a motor project on the Wheelbase site in Sneinton.

Mr Nick Gibb: Assessing the costs and benefits to the community is a local issue. Funding for alternative provision is delegated to local authorities within their high needs budgets so that they can determine the provision needed for children and young people in their area.   Local authorities also have duties to secure sufficient suitable education and training provision for all 16-19 year olds, and to support them to participate. Where gaps in provision are identified, the Education Funding Agency will either fill those places through negotiation with existing providers or run a competitive tender.

Grandparents

Mr David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that recent findings of the Local Government Ombudsman relating to grandparents and their grandchildren following family breakup are acted on by local authorities.

Mr Edward Timpson: We issued ‘Family and Friends Care: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities’ in 2011. This guidance is clear that children and young people unable to live with their parents who are brought up by family and friends should receive the support they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare, whether or not they are looked after. The guidance requires local authorities to develop and publish clear, easily accessible policies to explain how they will provide assessment and support to children in the care of family and friends. In July 2013 I wrote to all local authorities to remind them of this requirement and to request they notify the Department of their policy. To date, 144 of 152 (94%) of local authorities have sent us links to their policies.  To aid transparency, we have agreed that the Family Rights Group (FRG), one of the leading voluntary organisations supporting family and friends carers, will publish the links to these policies on its website. FRG are now reviewing the content and quality of these policies and we are planning to provide feedback to local authorities on findings from this work.

Teachers: Training

Mr David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2015 to Question 223692, if she will extend all bursaries to all students focusing on core curriculum on the Initial Teacher Training programme.

Mr David Laws: The Government provides bursaries in order to incentivise application to initial teacher training (ITT) courses from the best graduates. As such, bursary rates are set based on recruitment performance over recent years by phase and subject. Generally, higher bursaries are provided where a phase or subject has struggled to attract sufficient applicants in recent years. We review the financial incentives for ITT each year in order to respond to recruitment patterns across these phases, subjects and routes. Therefore, we have no current plans to extend bursary eligibility, but we will review this again before announcing bursaries for those starting ITT in 2016/17.   The bursaries for those starting ITT in 2015/16 are published online at:www.gov.uk/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt-academic-year-2015-to-16

Adoption

Mr Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children of Chinese origin have been adopted by people resident in the UK in the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014, the Department for Education has processed a total of 73 inter-country adoptions where China is the child’s country of origin.This figure relates to inter-country adoption cases in which the adopters are habitually resident in England only, as adoption is a devolved matter.

Children's Centres: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start children's centres there are in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire.

Mr Sam Gyimah: a) The Department of Education does not hold data at constituency level. However, there are 8 children’s centres shown within the Preston District Council area according to the Lancashire Family Information Service website: https://fisonline.lancashire.gov.uk/earlyyears/publicenquiry/Search.aspx?searchID=231 b) Local authorities are responsible for listing their open children’s centre records on the Department’s children’s centre database which is available online at http://childrenscentresfinder.direct.gov.uk/snapshot-childrens-centre/. On this, Lancashire local authority lists 64 main children’s centres and 15 additional sites open to families and children providing services as part of a network of children’s centres.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2014 to Question 207080, what information her Department collects on the use of the pupil premium allocated to children with special educational needs.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not collect statistics from schools about their use of pupil premium funding allocated to disadvantaged pupils, including those disadvantaged pupils with special educational needs (SEN).  In 2012, the Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the pupil premium to look at how schools were using the funding and their plans for the future. The study involved a survey and case study research in a sample of schools, including special schools. The report, which was published in July 2013 and is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-pupil-premium, includes evidence on use of the pupil premium by special schools and also by mainstream schools to support pupils with SEN.  In late 2014, the Department commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to undertake research into effective practice in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The research aims to understand what it is that successful schools do differently to make the difference. Case studies to demonstrate this will be gathered, and the analysis will include a focus on SEN. The research is due to be published later this year. The Department also gathers information on effective practice in use of the pupil premium through the annual Pupil Premium Awards. This scheme identifies and rewards those schools which have made innovative use of the pupil premium and can demonstrate the biggest sustained improvement in the performance of disadvantaged pupils. The 2015 Awards includes a separate category for special schools and pupil referral units, with a national award of £100,000 and up to four regional awards of £50,000 for the most outstanding schools. The winners of the 2015 Awards will be announced on 25 March. Case studies of award-winning schools from the 2013 and 2014 Awards are available online at www.pupilpremiumawards.co.uk.

Free Schools

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total (a) capital and (b) revenue expenditure has been to date on free schools opened in districts which did not have a forecast need for extra school places.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Justice

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which contracts worth more than £5 million his Department has signed since 1 September 2014; with whom such contracts have been signed; for what purpose; what the (a) annual and (b) total cost of each such contract is; and what the length of each such contact is.

Andrew Selous: When buying products and services we always seek best value for taxpayers' money and find savings were possible. Please refer to Annex A for the answer. I can confirm that 24 contracts worth more then 5 million have been signed since 1 September 2014. The Transforming Rehabilitation Programme successfully signed 21 contracts to run probation services for low and medium risk offenders across the whole of England and Wales in December 2014. These services replace the previous delivery of these services to low and medium risk offenders from probation trusts and will now also provide "through the gate" support and services to offenders serving sentences of less than 1 year. The contracts include a payment by results element to reward providers who are successful at reducing reoffending rates.  The contracts are for 7 years with a further 3 year extension option and an exit period available at the discretion of the Authority. The values stated for the Transforming Rehabilitation contracts are estimates based on a 7 year contract term. A range of values is provided indicating the value of the contract with no Payment by Results payable and with all available Payment by Results payable to the suppliers. Actual values are non-indexed and may vary depending on volumes, indexation and demand for services to the National Probation Service. The Contract Award date is the signed date.



Cost of Contracts
(Excel SpreadSheet, 29.5 KB)

Administration of Justice: Fees and Charges

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to simplify the form EX160 for application for fee remission.

Mr Shailesh Vara: In July 2014 HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) launched a revised fee remission application form and guidance which removed some requirements based on user feedback. HMCTS is now developing further reforms to the fee remission process which significantly simplifies the application form and guidance, removing the need for applicants to provide supporting documents in most cases. HMCTS expects these reforms to be in place for users by September 2015.

HM Courts Service

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability of front-of-house staff within the Courts Service to assist with the completion of official documents.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administrative staff provide help to courts and tribunals users directly at court buildings and hearing centres. Help is also provided by staff at call centres and through guidance provided on-line. While HMCTS staff cannot provide any legal advice, they are able to provide general help on procedure, including, where appropriate, guidance on the completion of court documents. Depending on the circumstances staff will also signpost users to appropriate advice agencies for this purpose. Through its budgeting and workforce planning processes HMCTS endeavours to ensure all activities are resourced to meet the demands of the service.Where a party appears unrepresented in the Magistrates’ Court, the Legal Adviser has a general duty to assist and this includes providing assistance with the completion of court forms.

Courts: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many redundancies were (a) planned and (b) made in each (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown court in Lancashire in 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I refer the honourable member to the answer given on Tuesday 10th February 2015.http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-02-05/223567/

Dog Fighting

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for dog fighting in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: It has not been possible to answer the question within the timeframe as the information is being assembled from a variety of statistical sources, but I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.

Domestic Violence: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic violence courts sat at each magistrates' court in Lancashire in 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The table below sets out the number of domestic violence courts scheduled to be sat in each magistrates’ court in Lancashire in 2014: Magistrates Courts in LancashireNumber of half day sessions scheduled to sit on domestic violence during 2014Blackpool Magistrates’ Court100Lancaster Magistrates’ Court50Preston Magistrates’ Court100Chorley Magistrates’ Court50Ormskirk Magistrates’ Court50Blackburn Magistrates’ Court100Burnley Magistrates’ Court100

Dangerous Driving

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of causing death by dangerous driving have not been subject to automatic release in the last three years.

Mike Penning: The majority of people sentenced to immediate custody for the offence of causing death by dangerous driving are subject to the standard determinate sentence release provisions, with automatic release at the half-way point in accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Some offenders serving this type of sentence may be eligible to be considered for release on home detention curfew (HDC) before their automatic release date, but those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving are presumed unsuitable for HDC and can only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Magistrates

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of local magistrate advisory boards were (a) women, (b) men, (c) of BAME origin and (d) aged over 65 on 1 April (i) 1989, (ii) 1994, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2005, (v) 2010 and (vi) 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales. We encourage applications from people from all walks of life who have the necessary skills, and we will continue to work to ensure that our magistrates reflect the make-up of modern Britain. Diversity data for the Advisory Committees’ members is not recorded for the requested years prior to 2005. The available data is shown below. Year (1 April)FemaleMaleBAMEAge over 65200546%54%7%36%201047%53%9%60%201448%52%10%53%

Magistrates

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the members are of each local magistrate advisory board.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of local magistrate advisory boards are (a) sitting magistrates and (b) non-magistrates.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I have interpreted ‘Local magistrate advisory boards’ to mean Advisory Committees on Justices of the Peace, the bodies responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in England and Wales. To enable their work to be informed by a range of knowledge and experience, Advisory Committees are composed of both magistrates and non-magistrates. At least one third of each Committee’s members should be non-magistrates. The attached table contains the names of each Committee’s members and indicates which of those members are magistrates.



Members of Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committees
(Excel SpreadSheet, 145 KB)

Magistrates

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release Damian Green: new rehabilitation powers for magistrates, published on 25 March 2014, when he plans to publish a White Paper on magistrates' reform.

Mike Penning: The Government has no plans to publish a White Paper on magistrates’ reform before the General Election. The role of magistrates will be reviewed again once our rehabilitation and summary justice reforms have bedded down.

Magistrates' Courts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the total work undertaken in magistrates' courts was presided over by (a) lay magistrates and (b) district judges on 1 April (i) 1989, (ii) 1994, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2005, (v) 2010 and (vi) 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not centrally hold the data requested for 1st April 1989, 1994, 2000, and 2005. The records became centralised with a phased roll out of a case management system (Libra) in 2005. Therefore, records prior to that date are retained locally and would require a manual trawl to retrieve and could only be collected at a disproportionate cost. However, for 1st April 2010 and 2014 the data is set out in the following table: DateJudiciary Cases  Number %01-Apr-10Magistrates10,51293.0% District Judges7977.0%01-Apr-14Magistrates8,97291.1% District Judges8808.9% The column headed 'Cases', provides a count of cases that have a hearing listed on the specified hearing date, it is possible for a single defendant to have more than one case listed at the same time. The data includes Criminal, Civil and Enforcement cases, but will exclude any family cases heard in the Magistrates' Courts. It is possible to have Magistrates sitting with District Judges in the same session; where this occurs the case will be counted under both.

Prime Minister

HSBC

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Prime Minister, when and how he was first made aware of files relating to HSBC and tax evasion.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) on 11 February 2015, Official Report, columns 774-775.

Ministry of Defence

Middle East

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what briefing his Department provided to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on (a) the promotion and sale of arms and military equipment and (b) human rights before his trip to the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Tobias Ellwood) to Question 224052.



11 February 2015 Hansard Extract
(Word Document, 26 KB)

Air Force: Training

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are taking part in the Seedcorn initiative; what the location is of each such member of personnel; with what equipment those personnel are training; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Seedcorn initiative in each of the next two years.

Mr Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2015 to Question 223239, giving the number of personnel, their location, and type of equipment those personnel are training on, as part of the Seedcorn initiative.The cost of the Seedcorn initiative in financial year 2015-16 is £2.5 million. Funding beyond that date is yet to be determined. 



11 February 2015 Hansard Extract
(Word Document, 31 KB)

Colombia

Mr Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions UK military personnel have provided training in Colombia in each year since 2010; and how many such personnel provided that training in each such year.

Mr Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 November 2014 to Question 210573 to the hon. Member for Bradford South (Mr Gerry Sutcliffe).



Hansard EXtract 4 November 2014
(Word Document, 29 KB)

Colombia

Mr Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Colombian armed forces personnel have trained in the UK in each year since 2010; and how many such personnel were trained in each such year.

Mr Mark Francois: Visits to the UK by members of the Colombian Armed Forces are focused around defence education. The number of occasions Colombian Armed Forces personnel has trained in the UK in each academic year since 2009-10 and how many such personnel were trained in each such year up to and including the end of the last academic year is:2009-10: one individual on one occasion.2010-11: five individuals on five separate occasions.2011-12: one individual on one occasion.2012-13: three individuals on three separate occasions.2013-14: three individuals on three separate occasions

USA

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222435, what the (a) rank, (b) function and (c) location is of the five personnel from the UK Reaper Force on loan service to US Forces.

Mr Mark Francois: There are four Flight Lieutenant Instructors at 49th Operations Group, Holloman Air Force Base. There is also one Flight Lieutenant at 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, Creech Air Force Base in a test and evaluation role. None of the five personnel on loan are conducting operational mission flying.

Department for Work and Pensions

Telephone Services

Mrs Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds about costs incurred by people using the Disability Living Allowance helpline; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: No information is held about the specific cost incurred by people using the Disability Living Allowance Helpline which can be accessed using an 0345 or 0845 number prefix. DWP is in the process of removing 0845 number prefixes for its national helplines.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people living in council and housing association properties in each local authority in Lancashire have been subject to the underoccupancy penalty since its introduction.

Mr Mark Harper: Housing Benefit recipients affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy in each Local Authority in Lancashire: as at November 2014Local Authority Total Burnley 578   Chorley 645   Fylde 200   Hyndburn 400   Lancaster 561   Pendle 421   Preston 1,238   Ribble Valley 110   Rossendale 332   South Ribble 445   West Lancashire 988   Wyre 424Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE), via Stat-Xplore  Notes: 1. This data is point in time for those HB claimants as at the second Thursday in November 2014, which is the latest available. A cumulative figure is therefore not available.  2. Cells in this table have had statistical disclosure control applied to avoid the release of confidential data. This information published and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-housing-benefit-claimants-and-average-weekly-spare-room-subsidy-amount-withdrawal This information is also available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Universal Credit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes his Department has agreed to enable housing associations to be informed when tenants migrate to universal credit.

Mr Mark Harper: The Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 came into force on 13 February 2015 and enable the Department to inform social landlords whenever one of their tenants makes a claim for, or receives an award of, Universal Credit (UC) with housing costs, for the purposes of enabling social landlords to assess which UC claimants may need advice, support or assistance in relation to managing their financial affairs. The Department will write to social landlords when a tenant makes a claim for UC, or when a UC claimant becomes a tenant of theirs and the Department has confirmed the tenancy details. The letter will identify the tenant and confirm the date that UC has been claimed from. The information sharing with social landlords through these regulations is aimed at maximising relevant support for vulnerable UC claimants, including enabling social landlords to request Alternative Payment Arrangements (APA) for vulnerable claimants if needed. The Department’s proposals for sharing information with social landlords were published for public consultation last year. Apart from the public consultation, we have also been working closely with local authorities and representatives from the housing organisations in developing our plans for delivering this data sharing. This data sharing is being implemented on a test and learn basis, and initially being introduced from 16 February 2015 in areas where UC has been rolled out nationally for single people.

Vacancies: Internet

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving jobseeker's allowance who have accessed Universal Jobmatch.

Esther McVey: Universal Jobmatch does not differentiate between the different types of user who access the service. Universal Jobmatch is open to all, whether they are in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance or not. There are currently 8.6 million registered users. In order to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance, claimants must (amongst other things) be available for and actively seeking work. Universal Jobmatch is a key source of jobs, so for the vast majority of claimants, using the service will be a key part of actively seeking work and also allows Jobcentre Plus Staff to assist claimants when looking for work.

Vacancies: Internet

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many zero-hours contracts were advertised on Universal Jobmatch in each of the last 12 months.

Esther McVey: Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work. There are a broad range of vacancies available on Universal Jobmatch, offering various types of contracts to jobseekers. Universal Jobmatch (UJ) was designed to be a self-service job posting and matching service. Before employers can access the service and start advertising job vacancies they are required to subscribe to specific Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions state, that job postings must provide a full, clear and accurate job description of an actual (genuine) job or work opportunity. Further, there is also the requirement that all job postings comply to employment related legislation such as Working Time Legislation and National Minimum Wage. When a job is being advertised on behalf of another employer (e.g. recruitment agency or job board) a contract should be in place with the end employer. The onus is upon the employer / agency to conform to the Terms and Conditions. DWP and the UJ Service Provider work collaboratively and proactively to ensure system compliance and where an employer is identified as breaching Terms and Conditions, appropriate action is taken. If the employer continues to breach Terms and Conditions, the circumstances will be investigated and access to UJ may be withdrawn. Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause. UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. Where Universal Credit claimants refuse to apply for a role, including a Zero Hours Contract role when mandated to do so or refuse to accept a job offer, they can be sanctioned. People on UC will not be required to sign up to zero hours contracts which require exclusivity, so they will always have the opportunity to gain more hours elsewhere. Universal Credit (UC) will substantially improve incentives to work, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn before it has any impact on the amount of UC they receive.

Conditions of Employment

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of former jobseeker's allowance claimants moving into work from the Work Programme in Merseyside, Halton, Cumbria and Lancashire contract area started work on a zero-hours contract in the last 12 months.

Esther McVey: Information published by the Office for National Statistics suggests zero-hours contracts make up a small part of the overall labour market, accounting for about 2-4% of all people in work. Jobseekers claiming Jobseekers Allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies, they will not be sanctioned as a result of not applying. UC claimants who refuse to accept a zero hours contract job offer, without good reason, can be subject to a sanction as UC automatically adjusts benefit payments depending on the number of hours a person works – whatever the type of contract. However a UC claimant will not be sanctioned for refusing to take a zero hours contract with an exclusivity clause. UC is about enabling people to make a smooth transition back into work and off benefits. Work Programme providers are not required to submit job start information until they claim a job outcome; only then are they requested to input a job start date which helps secure the validity of the job outcome payment. The type of employment is not a condition for a job outcome payment, although they must be working enough hours to leave benefit and therefore trigger the job outcome payment.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people expected to claim universal credit who have never previously used the internet.

Mr Mark Harper: Over 90% of new claims are being made on line and all of our Jobcentres have computers available for claimants to access the internet and Wi-Fi. As noted in the Government’s statement on assisted digital services in December 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-approach-to-assisted-digital) people will continue to be supported in interacting with the government even if they are unable to access services online, and we offer claimants the option to claim Universal Credit via telephone or in person.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) number, (b) value and (c) proportion is of incorrect payments made to claimants of universal credit since the scheme was introduced.

Steve Webb: This information is not readily available for publication and to quality assure this management information to Office for National Statistics quality standards, would incur disproportionate costs.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many challenges to benefits sanctions have been overturned as a result of tribunal interventions where his Department has not made reasonable adjustments under disability equality law; how his Department takes into account information from social services or health service staff before imposing such sanctions; and what processes ensure that adjustments are made before such sanctions are imposed on disabled claimants.

Esther McVey: The exact information you request on tribunal Interventions is not available. However, Decision Makers ensure that all relevant claimant circumstances are carefully considered before imposing any sanction. This may include information from social services and health service staff if it was relevant to the case. We do not sanction vulnerable claimants without making every effort to contact them or their carer/healthcare professional first. Clear and detailed guidance is used by Decision Makers to ensure that the necessary processes are followed in a consistent manner.

Funerals

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department provides on (a) the average cost of a funeral and (b) potential sources of financial support for a funeral to families of the recently deceased who are in receipt of state benefits.

Steve Webb: My department does not hold information on the average cost of a funeral. However the average funeral expenses payment for 2013/14 was £1,347. My department provides financial support towards a funeral to those on certain state benefits via Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments and Budgeting Loans.

Universal Credit

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library copies of the letter he wrote to the Rt hon. Member for East Ham on Universal Credit in January 2015.

Steve Webb: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to the Rt Hon Member for East Ham on 22 January. In line with the conventions of the House, correspondence between Ministers and MPs are confidential as far as the Department is concerned, and it is a matter for the MP to decide whether to make it more widely available. The Department has no issue if the Rt Hon Member for East Ham chooses to place a copy of the letter in the library.

Social Security Benefits: Glasgow

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of people in Glasgow South West constituency who have found work after having had their benefits sanctioned in the last five years.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Telephone Services

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls were made to (a) The Pension Service, 08456060265, (b) Personal Independence Payment, 08458503322, (c) Carer's Allowance Unit, 08456084321, and (d) Bereavement benefits, 08456088601, in each of the last five financial years; how much revenue was generated from calls to each of those numbers; and when he plans to end the use of those numbers.

Esther McVey: Please see the attached table - PQ224822 Selected Volumes- detailing volume of calls made to (a) The Pension Service, 08456060265, (b) Personal Independence Payment, 08458503322, (c) Carer's Allowance Unit, 08456084321, and (d) Bereavement benefits, 08456088601, in each of the last five financial years. (Metric definition and limitations included within the attachment)For the financial years 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13, DWP received no revenue for the telephone number 08456060265. For the financial years 2014/15 and 2013/14, DWP received no revenue for the telephone number 08458503322. For the financial years 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13, DWP received no revenue for the telephone number 08456084321. For the financial years 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13, DWP received no revenue for the telephone number 08456088601.DWP is already in the process of replacing all its 0845 number prefixes in use for its national helplines. 



PQ224822- Selected Volumes
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.51 KB)

European Social Fund

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the European Social Fund Operational Programme for 2014-20 has been agreed with the European Commission; and when he expects funding from that programme to be released to local enterprise partnerships.

Esther McVey: We are working closely with the European Commission on the Operational Programme, and expect that agreement will be reached shortly, after which we plan to invite applications for funding.

Housing Benefit

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements his Department has put in place for situations where application forms requesting an increase in local housing allowance (LHA) to cover an increase in rent applied to an eligible LHA claimant are lost by his Department and the applicant consequently faces eviction.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions provides funding for Housing Benefit to Local Authorities in Great Britain. Responsibility for the day to day administration of Housing Benefit lies with Local Authorities.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Glasgow

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseeker's allowance applications processed by (a) Maryhill Job Centre and (b) Partick Job Centre were subject to monetary sanctions in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012, (iii) 2013 and (iv) 2014; and what the average length of such sanctions was in each such year.

Esther McVey: The number of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) decisions to apply a sanction by Jobcentre Plus office is published at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Information requested on the average length of sanctions is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide guidance to families with variable incomes on how best to choose between universal credit and the tax-free childcare scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: Whilst parents can only receive support from either Universal Credit or Tax-Free Childcare at any time, where families are eligible for both they will have the freedom to choose the scheme which best meets their needs, and will be able to move freely between schemes when they experience a relevant change in circumstances. Draft guidance for parents on Tax-Free Childcare has already been published online for consultation by HMRC. There will also be an easy-to-use online calculator for parents choosing between Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare. Parents will be able to enter details about their personal circumstances to quickly see what support they may be entitled to and how much they may get. The DWP continues to work closely with HMRC to ensure the two schemes complement each other effectively, and that parents will have the guidance they need in order to make an informed decision on which scheme will provide the best support for them.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dogs

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the police on (a) dog theft and (b) dog fighting.

George Eustice: Defra officials have regular discussions with the police on the operation of law on dog control and welfare. The police are very supportive of the new provisions on compulsory dog microchipping and are fully aware of the measures in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to tackle dog fighting.

Dogs

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) dog theft and (b) dog fighting.

George Eustice: Any allegations of criminal behaviour should be reported to the police in the first instance, so that they can decide whether to instigate a criminal investigation.   We have also been working with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group who have been lobbying operators of internet sites to adopt minimum standards for the advertising of pet animals. This work includes identifying adverts for dogs used in organised dog fighting by spotting certain key or code words and removing the offending notices.   The introduction of compulsory microchipping for all dogs from April 2016 will help to reduce the chances of dogs being displaced, including through being stolen. It is already best practice for vets, re-homing centres, dog wardens etc. to scan strays and they have a duty of care to do so. Our guidance will emphasise this. But we also recognise that scanning all dogs can have significant costs and practical implications.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

Dan Rogerson: The Core Department does not budget at a level of detail that allows for the identification of annual training budgets. The information requested can therefore not be provided.   The table below sets out details of spend on training within Core Defra in the last three complete financial years. This information can also be found in the Department’s published Annual Reports and Accounts.   Financial YearSpend on Training (£000)2011-121,1912012-131,3532013-141,105

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in her Department was in each of the last three financial years.

Dan Rogerson: The information to answer this question is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

Dan Rogerson: The Department supports and actively promotes the ‘5 a year’ Civil Service Learning campaign to encourage individuals to take at least five days a year targeted learning and development, as set out in the Civil Service Reform plan. The campaign is promoted to both staff and managers using posters, the intranet and learning and development plans.

Floods: Urban Areas

George Hollingbery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which towns and cities in England and Wales have been most affected by flooding caused by urban surface run-off following heavy rain events in the last five years.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency publishes maps of locations at risk of flooding from surface water. The maps can be interrogated by place name or postcode.   The maps can be found at:   http://watermaps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiyby.aspx?topic=ufmfsw#x=357865&y=355121&scale=1

Bovine Tuberculosis

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what criteria she evaluates the humaneness of badger culls.

George Eustice: Our key criterion for humaneness remains the accuracy of shooting. The Independent Expert Panel suggested that the threshold for humaneness of controlled shooting is a time to death of less than five minutes from time of shooting. Field observations in both 2013 and 2014 indicated a very high likelihood of a time to death of less than 5 minutes in retrieved badgers. The likelihood of suffering in badgers is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other culling activities currently accepted by society have been assessed.

Thames Flood Barrier

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reviews are being conducted into the Thames Barrier or Thames flood defences.

Dan Rogerson: In response to increasing pressures, such as climate change, the Environment Agency produced the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan. This identifies options and recommendations for managing flood risk across the estuary up to the end of the century, and includes possible monitoring, maintenance, modifications and improvements to the Thames Barrier and associated flood defences. This could also include the construction of a new Thames Barrier at Long Reach, Dartford, by 2070.

Thames Flood Barrier

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the Thames Barrier has been closed in each year since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: The table below lists the number of times the Thames Barrier has been closed in each year since 2010.   YearNumber of closures2010520110201232013420144820150   The figure for 2015 is for the period 01/01/15 to 23/02/15.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Affordable Housing

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been converted to the Government's affordable rent model since it was introduced.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 09 December 2014



The Homes and Communities Agency’s Statistical Data Returns report the number of rental accommodation properties that have been converted to affordable rent. The figures relate to private registered provider owned stock only, and can be found online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistical-data-return-statistical-releases Detailed figures are not held centrally for local authority housing stock. The change in rental income from such conversions allows providers to borrow more to support the delivery of more new affordable homes. This Government has so far delivered 217,000 new affordable homes since 2010, and are bringing in £19.5 billion of public and private in affordable housing over the current Spending Review period. In the next Parliament, we are on track to deliver a further 275,000 new affordable homes, backed up by £38 billion of public and private investment. Conversions are not counted in these additional affordable homes figures.

Housing: Construction

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) homes and (b) affordable homes have been completed under the Get Britain Building scheme to date; and what estimate he has made of the number of jobs created by that scheme.

Brandon Lewis: Get Britain Building is a three-year scheme to provide development finance and support to unlock stalled sites. The scheme is on track to deliver, whilst managing the often challenging issues which hindered or stalled the sites in the first place (such as lack of finance, delays in planning conditions and other legal obligations, protracted sub-contractor negotiations, asbestos findings, site re-plans due to easements and utility diversions). From 2012-13 to September 2014, there have been 12,293 dwellings started, against the target of 12,000. The scheme is primarily aimed at unlocking stalled market housing, and is not an affordable housing programme as such; however, there have been 1,397 affordable starts which have been unlocked as part of wider schemes. Completions lag behind starts due to the time it takes to build out a site (especially given the challenging nature of some of the sites, as outlined above), but 4,890 dwellings had been completed to September 2014, and this figure will continue rising. More detailed figures are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics The hon. Member will no doubt wish to criticise and knock the scheme, but I would simply observe that we are cleaning up the mess left by the Labour Government’s housing crash. We estimate that the Get Britain Building programme is supporting between 1 to 2 jobs per unit, which suggests that up to 24,586 jobs have been supported so far. As I noted in my answers of 30 October 2014, Question 207630 and 23 January 2015, Question 219688, this is part of a package of measures to get stalled sites building. At a time when the number of planning permissions has risen to 240,000 a year, the total number of planning permissions which were "on hold/shelved" in England has fallen from 90,331 in September 2011 to 45,000 in December 2014, according to Glenigan estimates. This shows that the Government’s long-term economic plan is working and turning around the mess and recession left by the last Labour Government. Moth-balled sites are springing into action; more homes are being planned; and more homes are being built out. By contrast, the policy positions being advocated by HM Opposition would hinder complex land assembly projects, discourage builders from applying for planning permission and reduce the level of house building.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to answer Question 217184, tabled on 4 December 2014 by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East.

Brandon Lewis: Question 217184 was answered today, 25 February 2015.

Private Rented Housing: Smoke Alarms

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to lay regulations before the House to make the provision of smoke alarms in private rented property compulsory; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Department of Communities and Local Government published a discussion document in 2014, which invited views on regulating for the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. We will publish our response along with a summary of the views shortly.

Bradford City Council

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much Bradford Metropolitan District Council received from central government in grants in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: In 2014-15, Bradford Metropolitan District Council is forecast to receive £655 million in government grants, excluding mandatory housing benefits, equivalent to £3,112 per dwelling. Per dwelling, this is in the top 20 highest in England. Including mandatory housing benefits, the forecast is £838 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). In addition to this, Bradford Metropolitan District residents will also benefit from government grant funding to the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, to the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority and to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. We do not hold detailed information on all the individual grants paid out across government departments over the time period. However, leaving aside schools spending which has changed due to the funding shift from local authorities to academies, in 2014-15, Bradford Metropoliton District Council's net current expenditure excluding education is forecast to be £596 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). This compares with £548 million in 2009-10 (source: Revenue Outturn returns), and is thus an increase in cash terms.Of course, every bit of the public sector needs to do its bit to pay off the deficit left by the last Administration, including local government which accounts for a quarter of all public spending. Yet these figures illustrate how claims in some parts of the local government sector about “cuts” are over-stated and mislead the public.

Devolution: Greater Manchester

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish all responses to the consultation on the proposal to amend the constitution of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish a list of respondees to the consultation on the proposal to amend the constitution of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many responses to the consultation on the proposal to amend the constitution of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority there have been.

Kris Hopkins: Following the recent consultation, we have now laid a draft of an Order before Parliament which, if approved by Parliament and made, will enable the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to appoint an Interim Mayor to chair the Authority until a mayor is elected for Greater Manchester as envisaged in the devolution agreement with Government. The accompanying Explanatory Memorandum provides a summary of the 12 responses to the consultation from the ten constituent councils, the Combined Authority and the Business Leadership Council.

EU Grants and Loans

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the European Regional Fund Operational Programme for 2014-20 has been agreed with the European Commission; and when he expects funding from that programme to be released to local enterprise partnerships.

Kris Hopkins: My Department is on track to reach in-principle agreement with the European Commission on the 2014-2020 European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme in February to enable a launch call for projects to take place in March. Local Enterprise Partnerships and partners are advising my Department on this launch. Partners will continue to play an active role locally in advising my Department on the applications and funding decisions that will follow. The Department for Communities and Local Government will be in a position to sign funding agreements for successful applications as soon as the European Regional Development Fund Operational Programme is formally adopted by the European Commission, which we expect to happen by June.I attach to this answer a letter sent last week by my noble Friend, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, to Local Enterprise Partnerships and local partners on this issue.



Letter from Lord Ahmad - Local Enterprise Partners
(PDF Document, 589.07 KB)

Members: Correspondence

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he intends to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Hyndburn dated 14 October 2014 on Hyndburn Homes.

Brandon Lewis: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 25 February 2015, a copy of which is attached.



Letter from Brandon Lewis to Graham Jones
(PDF Document, 28.35 KB)

Shared Ownership

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that advance public notice is given to the planned changes to the income eligibility thresholds for shared ownership.

Brandon Lewis: There are no current planned changes to the income eligibility thresholds for shared ownership funded by the Homes and Communities Agency across England, excluding London. However, we do keep these matters under review. The Greater London Authority has committed in the London Plan to update the income thresholds for London on an annual basis through the Annual Monitoring Report. The next Report is due to be published at the end of March 2015. Any changes to the income thresholds will apply from 1 April 2015. All partners will be informed on the updated income thresholds and all public information on shared ownership will be updated accordingly.

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release Pickles cuts stealth taxes on new homes and boosts small builders, published on 28 November 2014, if he will publish the business cases for each element of the initiatives announced in that press release.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Permission

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local planning authorities on support for town and parish councils to initiate a neighbourhood plan when (a) there is no local plan, (b) a local plan is being considered by an inspection and (c) there is doubt about housing numbers.

Brandon Lewis: Planning guidance sets out the action an authority should take where a neighbourhood plan comes forward before an up-to-date Local Plan is in place (further details can be found at: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/neighbourhood-planning/what-is-neighbourhood-planning/what-is-a-neighbourhood-plan-and-what-is-its-relationship-to-a-local-plan/)A local planning authority should take a proactive and positive approach, working collaboratively with a parish or town council or a designated neighbourhood forum particularly sharing evidence and seeking to resolve any issues to ensure that the draft neighbourhood plan has the greatest chance of success at independent examination. Town and parish councils and designated neighbourhood forums can also use the planning guidance on housing and economic development needs assessments to identify specific local needs that may be relevant to a neighbourhood but any assessment at such a local level should be proportionate.

Scotland Office

Apprentices

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many apprentices employed by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies and associated bodies are aged (i) 16 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 and (iii) 25 years or older; and how many of those apprentices employed in each form of body and of each age group were previously employed by the Government.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff; all staff that join, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice.

Smith Commission

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress has been made on implementation of the Smith Commission recommendations.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: We promised draft clauses on new powers for the Scottish Parliament and we published that legislation ahead of the Burns’ Night deadline.The main UK parties have all committed to bring forward a Bill in the next Parliament. Scotland will get more powers.

Pay

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the change in the level of real wages in Scotland since May 2010.

David Mundell: Our economy is recovering from the deepest recession since ONS records began in 1948.Thanks to this government’s long-term economic plan we have seen average regular pay rising faster over the last year than inflation. Furthermore, business surveys expect the steady rise in real wages to continue.

Pay

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the change in the level of real wages in Scotland since May 2010.

David Mundell: Our economy is recovering from the deepest recession since ONS records began in 1948.Thanks to this government’s long-term economic plan we have seen average regular pay rising faster over the last year than inflation. Furthermore, business surveys expect the steady rise in real wages to continue.

HM Treasury

Revenue and Customs

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what average time was taken by HM Revenue and Customs to pre-approve transfer pricing arrangements in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 to date.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has run an Advance Pricing Agreement Programme since 1999 to assist businesses in identifying solutions for complex transfer pricing issues and by agreeing their transfer pricing in advance. The average time taken by HMRC to draw up an agreement is available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/transfer-pricing-stats.pdf   Time taken is measured from the date the formal APA application is received to the date the agreement is signed by all relevant parties. The increase in elapsed times reflects an increased number of bilateral applications where HMRC has to work with other tax administrations, and has limited control over the process.

Bitcoin: VAT

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has made to the European Court of Justice in response to its consideration of the VAT treatment of bitcoin transactions; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: No representations have been made to the EU Court of Justice regarding the VAT treatment of Bitcoin transactions.

Staff

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The department’s accounting system does not separately identify the recruitment agency fee element of an invoice, and this information could not be extracted within the disproportionate cost threshold.   Total agency fees for displaced or redundant staff for the past five years are as follows:   Financial Year£2009/1015,5002010/119,1002011/126,8102012/134,8832013/145,9842014/15 (Apr to Dec)2,800 Total spend on learning and development in the department has reduced over the last six financial years as follows:   Financial YearTotal staff training costs (£)2009-102,252,0642010-111,157,7502011-12801,5412012-13646,4702013-14771,3592014-15 (Apr to Dec)620,966

Manchester Airport: Air Passenger Duty

Mike Kane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue was accrued to the Exchequer in air passenger duty from Manchester Airport in each of the last five years.

Mike Kane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment was undertaken of the effect of a zero-rate air passenger duty in Scotland on airports in Northern England before taking the decision to devolve the setting of that duty.

Mike Kane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost to Manchester Airport of a zero-rate air passenger duty for Scotland.

Priti Patel: The devolution of APD to Scotland raises the potential for reel pressure to be put on regional airports – particularly in the North East but also on Manchester and others. The Chancellor has been clear we will work together cross parties to ensure that we minimise the impact of any decision by Scotland to reduce ADP, so that we protect English regional airports.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people earning over £100,000 in the most recent tax year for which information is available had their personal allowance (a) partially reduced and (b) reduced to zero; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people had taxable earned income of between £100,000 and £120,000 in the most recent tax year for which information is available.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes data on the number of taxpayers and their liability on Gov.uk.

Unpaid Taxes

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much is owed to HM Revenue and Customs in unpaid tax debt in each of the last four years up to the most recent period for which records are available; and if he will provide a regional breakdown of such debtors.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published the total unpaid tax debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs between March 2011 and March 2014 in its Annual Reports and Accounts, which can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/89198/annual-report-accounts-1112.pdf   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210244/9549-TSO-HMRC_RA_ACCESSIBLE.pdf   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330670/HMRC-annual-report-2013-14.pdf   They do not have regional breakdowns.

Inheritance Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs to tackle inheritance tax avoidance in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in the last five years for which records are available.

Mr David Gauke: Inheritance Tax compliance is organised and tackled on a National basis from offices located in Nottingham, Edinburgh and Belfast.   HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has specialist Inheritance Tax compliance teams. The time spent tackling avoidance by the IHT compliance teams is not separately recorded.

Inheritance Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax relief on inheritance tax was granted for (a) agricultural and (b) business property in each the last four years up to the most recent period for which records are available.

Mr David Gauke: Estimates of the Exchequer cost of agricultural relief and of business property relief (including relief on unquoted shares) for estates are available for years up to and including 2014-15.   The latest estimates for 2013-14 and for 2014-15 can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389539/20141231_expenditure_reliefs_v0.3.pdf   The latest estimates for 2012-13 can be found online at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141206132728/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302317/20140109_expenditure_reliefs_v0.4published.pdf.   The latest estimates for 2011-12 can be found online at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131113190813/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253142/table1-5.pdf.

Economic Situation: Greece

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what issues were (a) discussed and (b) agreed at his meeting with his Greek counterpart on 2 February 2015.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Greek finance minister discussed a range of issues around the current situation in Greece and the euro area.

Health: Tax Allowances

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax and National Insurance incentives there are for employers who participate in programmes and initiatives related to the physical wellbeing of their employees.

Mr David Gauke: There are a number of reliefs within the tax and National Insurance system for employers who support the physical wellbeing of their employees. For example, a number of benefits in kind that are related to health and wellbeing are exempted from employer National Insurance; these include eye tests, health screening, and medical check-ups.   At Autumn Statement 2013, this government also announced the introduction of a new income tax and National Insurance contributions exemption for employer funding of recommended medical treatments.

ICT: VAT

Chi Onwurah: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February to Question 222929, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the market for Cloud services of refunding VAT for contracted-out-services but not for Cloud services.

Mr David Gauke: No estimate is planned. When determining eligibility for VAT refunds, it is the nature of the IT contract rather than how it is delivered, that counts.

National Savings Bonds: Pensioners

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the merits of allowing savings bonds for older people to be used as part of an ISA.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has introduced a range of measures to support savers, including raising the ISA limit to £15,240, and making ISAs more flexible by allowing all of that money to be invested in stocks and shares or cash. The 65+ “Pensioner” Bond is a specific policy on top of the improvements to ISAs, designed to help savers who rely on their income during retirement. The Bonds will be taxed in line with other comparable products in the savings market: the only difference is the market-leading rate.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of people currently paying income tax who would not pay that tax if the threshold at which it begins to be payable were to be raised to £15,000 per annum.

Mr David Gauke: It is estimated that raising the personal tax allowance to £15,000 in the year 2015-16 would take 6.2 million individuals out of income tax liability at a cost of £26 billion to the Exchequer.   These estimates are based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s December 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

Income Tax

Stephen Doughty: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many basic rate taxpayers there are in each parliamentary constituency in the UK.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested will be deposited in the Library of the House.

Universal Credit

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) small, (b) micro and (c) large employers are signed up to the real-time information system for the purposes of universal credit; and how many claims for universal credit have been made through the real-time information system by December 2014.

Mr David Gauke: Employers do not sign up to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Real-Time Information (RTI) system specifically for the purposes of Universal Credit.   Claims to Universal Credit are made to DWP and the information provided by employers via RTI can be used for Universal Credit purposes as necessary.   It may be helpful to explain that since April 2013 the majority of employers have been required to report in real time, with virtually all schemes (1.9m) covering 48m employments now reporting through RTI.

Personal Savings: Pensioners

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what advice his Department provides to pensioners on how to invest their money.

Andrea Leadsom: At Budget 2014, the Chancellor announced a number of measures to give people more choice about how they use and manage their money in retirement.   The Chancellor announced that from April 2015, anyone 55 and over will be able to access their defined contribution pension savings and use the savings as they choose.   A new service, Pension Wise, will provide guidance online, face-to-face and on the phone, and will be up and running in time for April 2015. The website, in pilot form, is already available.

Offshore Industry: Taxation

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 221932, what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the offshore drilling sector since the introduction of the Investment Allowance.

Priti Patel: The government understands the challenges currently facing the UK oil and gas industry and is following developments in the North Sea closely. The Investment Allowance rewards companies investing in the long-term future of the basin – at all stages of the investment life cycle – and we would expect it to significantly reduce the effective tax rate for companies investing in the UK Continental Shelf.   Work on the design of the new Investment Allowance has been progressing rapidly since December - the government published a consultation document on its proposals on 22 January.   The government recognises the importance of the industry to local economies and as an employer. The report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in partnership with Oil and Gas UK and OPITO (the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation) in December, “Fuelling the next generation: A study of the UK upstream oil and gas workforce” highlighted both the sector’s current contribution to employment and its future potential. The government will continue to work closely with industry through the Oil and Gas Industry Council and with the newly-formed Scottish Energy Jobs Taskforce to support jobs in the sector, develop the industry’s skills base and make sure this potential is realised.

Financial Institutions: Taxation

Stephen Barclay: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates his Department has made of the amount that would be raised from hedge funds, or similar financial institutions, by closing tax loopholes arising from the use of mixed membership partnerships.

Mr David Gauke: As part of the partnerships review legislation was introduced in Finance Act 2014 to prevent tax-motivated allocations of business profits in partnerships where the partners include both individuals and companies (mixed membership partnerships). During consultation, it became apparent that the use of mixed membership partnerships by hedge funds to avoid tax was widespread. As a result, the yield scored for the measure was increased by £1.92 bn over the scorecard period. All of this additional yield relates to the hedge fund sector.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 221932, when the Joint Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy was published; what discussions he has had regarding the Strategy with his ministerial colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills since the fall in international oil prices; and what updates his Department has proposed to the Strategy since July 2014.

Priti Patel: Actions on fiscal matters fall under the responsibility of HM Treasury (as stated in the industrial strategy) and these actions are taken forward in collaboration with the Oil and Gas Fiscal Forum. The Forum is separate from the Oil and Gas Industry Council, who have responsibility for the Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, in partnership with BIS.   The Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy is kept under review by the Oil and Gas Industry Council. The Council met in November 2014 and is due to meet next in March 2015.

Offshore Industry: Taxation

Alex Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 221932, what estimate he has made of the effect of the reduction in the rate of Supplementary Charge on levels of (a) employment, (b) exploration activity, (c) infrastructure maintenance and (d) decommissioning in the offshore oil and gas industry to date.

Priti Patel: The government recognises the importance of the UK oil and gas industry and its contribution to energy security and the UK economy. We are committed to the future of the industry and creating the right conditions to maximise economic recovery.  At Autumn Statement, the government published a radical plan for the future of the oil and gas fiscal regime and set out a package of measures, including the reduction in the rate of the Supplementary Charge, to tackle the fiscal challenges and ensure the UKCS continues to attract investment, simplify the current system, and remove barriers at all stages of the production life cycle. The package is expected to drive around £7bn of additional investment and 350m barrels of oil equivalent production.

Debts: Greece

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the possible risk of Greek sovereign default and subsequent effects on the UK banking sector.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the possible risk of Greek sovereign default and subsequent effects on the UK banking sector.

Andrea Leadsom: The Treasury regularly monitors global economic developments and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development. The UK is one of the most open economies in the world through trade and financial channels, and we are not immune to developments in the global economy. The best way to insulate the UK economy from any such instability is to stick to our long term economic plan.   The exposure of UK banks to Greece is small. Moreover the Bank of England’s recent stress tests showed that our banking sector is far stronger and better capitalised than before.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Vernon Coaker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations he has received on Equitable Life compensation packages; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Treasury continues to talk to many interested parties on this important issue.

Financial Services: Taxation

Jonathan Edwards: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential revenues to the Exchequer arising from an EU financial transaction tax.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 924W.

Sports: Taxation

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which occasions his Department has received representations on the introduction of special tax arrangements to support a major sporting event since May 2010.

Mr David Gauke: The Government receives representations on a wide range of issues. Providing tax exemptions are often a requirement of the bidding process.

Banks: Internet

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on consumer indebtedness of decisions by banks to (a) charge consumers to receive information about their accounts online and (b) encourage consumers to receive information online.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government takes the firm view that consumers must be able to easily access clear and transparent information about their accounts. The major current account providers have previously committed to make fees and charges clearer on customers’ monthly statements, and provide an annual statement of charges for each customer.   The Government is continuing to drive forward a wide-reaching and ambitious programme of reforms to make the banking sector more competitive, including enabling innovation in the use of bank data so that customers are able to use online information more effectively. This includes initiatives like the Midata current account tool, which will help customers switch to the best current account for them.   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently reviewing cost-cutting initiatives that affect a significant number of customers, including the withdrawal of paper statements.

Whisky

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which are supported by the Scotch whisky industry in (a) Barnsley and (b) each nation and region of the UK.

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total annual economic contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to the economy.

Priti Patel: A report produced by the Scotch Whiskey Association in January 2015 outlines that the industry contributes £5bn to total UK GDP and directly and indirectly supports 43,000 jobs in the UK.

Economic Situation: Greece

Andrew Rosindell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the consequences for the UK economy of a Greek exit from the Eurozone.

Andrea Leadsom: As the Chancellor stated on 2 February “…it is clear that the stand-off between Greece and the euro zone is the greatest risk to the global economy”.

Economic Situation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the future prospects for the UK's credit rating.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government’s long term economic plan has secured the UK’s strong credit rating, which has contributed to lower borrowing costs and help protect frontline services. In June 2014, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) revised the outlook on their UK AAA rating from negative to stable. The key driver cited by S&P was ‘Amid further progress in consolidating public fiannces, the UK’s economic recovery is broadening.’S&P have assigned the UK sovereign the top triple AAA rating since they first published a UK rating in 1978. Moody’s and Fitch have assigned the UK the second highest rating Aa1 and AA+ respectively, with a stable outlook. The Government remains committed to its long term economic plan to ensure that the UK’s strong credit rating is maintained.

Health Services: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Scottish Ministers on the sharing of Scottish NHS data with HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr David Gauke: Treasury ministers discuss a wide range of issues with their ministerial counterparts, including in the Scottish Government. In line with the practice followed by previous administrations, details of such discussions are not routinely disclosed.

Health Services: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards he plans to put in place to ensure the security of Scottish NHS data shared with HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr David Gauke: Any taxpayer data held by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is subjected to strict safeguards.   HMRC take their duty of confidentiality very seriously and cannot disclose any information acquired or held unless specifically provided for by law. All HMRC information is subject to stringent data security controls and unlawful disclosure of taxpayer information is potentially a criminal offence.

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect he expects the judgement in Edenred (UK Group) v HM Treasury & Ors to have on the timescale for roll-out for the tax free childcare scheme contract.

Priti Patel: Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) will provide support to hard-working families for childcare costs. The introduction of TFC will give almost two million families the opportunity to receive up to £2,000 per annum of support per child, via a new simple online system.

Rio Tinto Group

Ian Lavery: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any employees of Rio Tinto plc were seconded to his Department in the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: No employees of Rio Tinto plc have been seconded into HM Treasury in the last 5 years.

Rio Tinto Group

Ian Lavery: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any former officials of his Department have taken employment with Rio Tinto plc in the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The Civil Service Business Appointments Rules, which are published on GOV.uk, apply to civil servants who intend to take up an appointment or employment after leaving the Civil Service and the approval process will differ depending upon the applicant’s seniority.   The destination of leavers are not held centrally.

Banks: Stocks and Shares

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the notional value of derivatives held by banks regulated by the UK authorities is; and what information his Department holds on the maturity and exposure of such derivatives.

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the derivatives exposure is of each bank regulated by the UK authorities.

Andrea Leadsom: HM Treasury does not preserve specific information relating to the value, maturity or exposure of derivatives. Aggregate data on the derivative positions of UK banks is collected every quarter and made publicly available online by the Bank of England. The specific balance sheet position on derivatives for each bank will be published regularly in their annual report to shareholders.

Patents

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of tax reductions for companies under the patent box legislation has been since April 2013.

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have applied the lower rate of corporation tax associated with patent box legislation.

Mr David Gauke: The patent box was introduced in April 2013 and companies have up to two years from the end of their accounting period to elect into the regime. The first complete set of data will therefore not be available before end April 2016.

Cooperatives

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the (a) regulatory approach and (b) registration criteria for co-operatives in the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke: The Financial Conduct Authority is the registrar for co-operatives. It only has regulatory functions over co-operatives which are also authorised to carry out financial service activities.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Fracking

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how strict the standard of independent monitoring of shale gas fracking will be; and who will undertake that monitoring.

Matthew Hancock: The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for onshore gas operations in England. It requires operators to obtain environmental permits which contain conditions that ensure risks are properly managed and will not allow companies to start work unless they can demonstrate how they will provide a high level of protection for people and the environment. The EA will monitor compliance with permits and take enforcement action if it believes permit conditions have been breached.The EA undertakes inspections based on its assessment of the risks presented by a particular site. Often the site operator is responsible for environmental monitoring, which the EA then examines to ensure that they are abiding by their permit conditions. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site, the EA may undertake extra monitoring itself.The environmental permits require operators to monitor the emissions from their activities and assess their environmental impact. They do this in order to demonstrate to the EA that pollution is minimised and to comply with the limits specified in their permit. The monitoring must be carried out to recognised standards by competent personnel. The EA recommends that operators do this through its Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS). Operators can choose to use an alternative certified monitoring standard, as long as it is equivalent to the MCERTS standard.MCERTS is the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme. It provides the framework for businesses to meet EA’s quality requirements. If operators comply with MCERTS, the EA can have confidence in the monitoring of emissions to the environment.The EA will adopt a compliance assessment plan for each site that sets out how it will measure the operator’s compliance and ensure that environmental risks are properly managed. This may include a variety of methods such as audit, site inspections, check monitoring, sampling, and reviewing operator records and procedures. In addition, DECC officials are currently developing further measures to provide independent evidence directly to the public about the robustness of the existing regulatory regime, as announced in the Autumn Statement.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much land is currently held by NDA Properties Limited; and what the use, value and location is of that land.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



NDA Properties Limited holds, in approximate figures: 30 acres of land at Berkeley, Gloucestershire; 130 acres at Bradwell, Essex; 220 acres at Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire; 340 acres at Dounreay, Caithness; 10 acres at Harwell, Oxfordshire; 5 acres at Hunterton, Ayrshire; 30 acres at Drigg, Cumbria; 1,570 acres in West Cumbria; 14 acres at Springfields, Lancashire; and 270 acres at Trawsfynydd, Gwyndd. The land covers a wide variety of uses, including agricultural land, woodland, land used for operational purposes, and offices. For commercial reasons, NDA Properties does not make public its valuations of land held.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much land has been sold by NDA Properties Limited in each of the last five years; and how much has been raised as a result of those sales.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



NDA Properties Ltd has completed five land sales in the last five years, with a total net sale price of £867,000. The sales were at Dounreay in August 2011, at Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria in June 2013, at Springfields in July and November 2013, and at Dungeness in January 2014. The largest sale was of agricultural land at Springfields (November 2013) for £548,000.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the amount of land that will be sold by NDA Properties Limited in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16; and what estimate he has made of the revenue likely to be raised by those sales.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



NDA Properties Ltd will consider selling land at Dounreay, Harwell, Springfields and in West Cumbria in the next two or three years, depending on market conditions. For commercial reasons it does not make public its valuations of its holdings.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much NDA Properties Limited receive in income from its land and property holdings in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



NDA Properties Limited received from its land and property holdings income of £6.402m in 2009-10, £6.234m in 2010-11, £6.107m in 2011-12, £5.589m in 2012-13 and £6.115m in 2013-14.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the annual staff costs and other operating expenditure of NDA Properties Limited, including through third-party management fees, was in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties Limited’s staff costs and other operating expenditure was £44,662 in 2009-10, £122,244 in 2010-11, £163,652 in 2011-12, £315,420 in 2012-13 and £402,140 in 2013-14. The increase in expenditure reflects increased activity, notably relating to the Albion Square development in Whitehaven.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the staff costs and other operating expenditure of NDA Properties Limited in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16, including through third-party management fees.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties Limited forecasts its staff costs and other operating expenditure at £433,804 in 2014-15 and £390,000 in 2015-16.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much land required for (a) nuclear licensed sites, (b) operational purposes, (c) NDA offices and (d) other purposes is currently owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (i) directly and (ii) through subsidiaries including NDA Properties Limited.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



The land holdings of NDA Properties Ltd have been set out in the answers to Questions 224207 and 224187. Two further subsidiaries, Direct Rail Services Ltd and INS Property Holdings, own land but do not hold the information requested in the form specified.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much he estimates that NDA Properties Limited will receive in income from its holdings in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties estimates that the income from its holdings will be £7.6m in 2014-15 and £8.2m in 2015-16.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) value and (b) amount is of land property holdings held by NDA Properties Limited, by function.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties Limited holds, in approximate figures: 30 acres of land at Berkeley, Gloucestershire; 130 acres at Bradwell, Essex; 220 acres at Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire; 340 acres at Dounreay, Caithness; 10 acres at Harwell, Oxfordshire; 5 acres at Hunterton, Ayrshire; 30 acres at Drigg, Cumbria; 1,570 acres in West Cumbria; 14 acres at Springfields, Lancashire; and 270 acres at Trawsfynydd, Gwyndd. The land covers a wide variety of functions, including agricultural land, woodland, land used for operational purposes, and offices. For commercial reasons, NDA Properties does not make public its valuations of land held.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many holdings are owned by NDA Properties Limited; and what the value is of those holdings.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties Limited owns 95 holdings. For commercial reasons, it does not make public its valuations of its holdings.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222829, how much of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's expenditure on support costs was for (a) research and technology, (b) IT, (c) security, (d) facilities, (e) programme management, (f) procurement, (g) human resources, (h) finance, (i) head-office costs, (j) environment, health safety and quality, (k) regulatory engagement and (l) communications in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



The information requested is in the table below:£m13-14 12-13 11-12 10-11 09-10 [A] Research & technology5.05.04.94.75.9[B] IT2.42.23.93.63.7[D] Facilities1.91.63.22.52.8[E] Programme Management12.511.011.413.718.0[G] HR2.12.11.81.92.5[H] Finance4.34.43.73.66.5[L] Communications1.81.61.41.61.5Support costs for security, procurement, head office costs, environment health safety and quality, regulatory engagement cannot be accurately disaggregated from wider NDA expenditure.Due to internal reporting changes and/or organisational structure changes, certain headings may not be consistent across the five years.Finance costs include internal audit costs and NAO audit fees, in each year.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222816, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed under reachback contracts in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



The NDA did not record the number of individuals employed full-time under reachback contracts between 2009-2011. The number of full-time equivalent staff employed under reachback contracts in each of the last three years are: 2011-12 1262012-13 1492013-14 134.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much Nuclear Management Partners has received in executive staff costs in each year since it became the parent body organisation for Sellafield Ltd.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 23 February 2015



The information requested is below:£k2008/09 3,2112009/10 8,4632010/11 9,0682011/12 11,0662012/13 8,6292013/14 6,658

Energy: Prices

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reasons community energy schemes are not permitted to supply to local markets; and if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on such schemes' ability to reduce energy bills of them being permitted to supply to such markets.

Amber Rudd: Community energy schemes can already supply local markets provided they hold a supply licence (or exemption) or have a partnership with a licensed supplier.In recognition that existing routes may not meet the needs of every community scheme, the Government has established a Local Supply Working Group to identify key regulatory barriers and suggest solutions. An update on the Local Supply Working Group will be included in the Community Energy Strategy update that will be published in March 2014.

Electricity Generation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of units that secured a capacity agreement in the first auctions of the capacity market were based in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England; and how many units of what capacity were so secured.

Matthew Hancock: The Capacity Market register does not publish the geographic location of Capacity Market Units (CMUs). However based on analysis of the CMUs registered, the following proportions of CMU location are assumed:(a) Scotland 42 CMUs (14%) and 4016.847 MW (8%)(b) Wales 46 CMUs (15%) and 8307.883 MW (17%)(c) England 215 CMUs (70%) and 36900.122 MW (75%)(d) Unknown 3 CMUs (1%) and 34.086 MW (0%)

Energy: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the Rate of Return on Equity for each of the Distribution Network Operators under Distribution Price Control Review 5.

Matthew Hancock: Ofgem are responsible for regulating the electricity Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and the setting of the price control review. Ofgem’s latest estimate for the Rate of Return on Equity for each of the DNOs is in the attached table which covers the years 2010-11 to 2013-14. The last year of Distribution Price Control Review 5 (2014-15) is still on-going.

Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much the Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil has spent on legal advice to date.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Natural Gas: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per kWh of gas in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) each English region in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Regional gas bills, based on fixed consumption levels are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, table 2.3.3 and table 2.3.4:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics Annual UK gas prices by PES (Public Electricity Supply) Region in pence kWh 20102011201220132014East Midlands3.744.064.524.784.92Eastern3.734.084.554.845.00London3.834.204.674.975.21Merseyside & North Wales3.784.114.554.875.04North East3.744.084.504.804.92North Scotland3.694.064.514.754.98North West3.784.114.554.834.99South East3.784.144.614.875.04South Scotland3.694.064.514.804.97South Wales3.804.134.614.875.05South West3.764.104.594.864.97Southern3.754.134.614.935.13West Midlands3.794.154.614.915.03Yorkshire3.764.114.524.814.98Great Britain3.764.114.574.865.02Data above are based on a fixed annual consumption of 15,000kWh in each year.

Electricity: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per kWh of electricity in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) each English region in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Regional electricity bills, based on fixed consumption levels are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, table 2.2.3 and table 2.2.4:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics. Annual UK electricity prices by PES (Public Electricity Supply) Region in pence kWhRegion20102011201220132014East Midlands12.013.313.914.714.9Eastern12.113.313.914.814.9London12.713.514.215.115.5Merseyside & North Wales12.814.114.916.016.7North East12.213.114.015.115.5North Scotland13.113.814.916.216.8North West11.913.414.215.215.7South East12.213.113.814.915.3South Scotland12.913.814.315.215.2South Wales13.314.115.015.916.4South West12.914.014.815.816.3Southern12.713.314.015.115.4West Midlands12.213.414.215.115.5Yorkshire11.913.114.014.915.3United Kingdom12.513.514.315.215.6Data above are based on a fixed annual consumption of 3,800kWh in each year.

Energy: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households have received support through the Green Deal in (a) Bradford East constituency and (b) Bradford to date.

Amber Rudd: The Department has reported that there were 1,692 Green Deal Assessments in Bradford East constituency up to 30th September 2014. There were also eleven Green Deal Cashback vouchers and Green Deal Home Improvement Fund vouchers paid in Bradford East constituency up to 30th September 2014.In Bradford Local Authority there were 5,048 Green Deal Assessments, 72 Green Deal Cashback vouchers paid and 33 Green Deal Home Improvement Fund vouchers paid up to 30th September 2014.The statistics referred to can be found in the accompanying tables here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-september-2014Currently, the Department has not published any geographic breakdowns below region on Green Deal Finance Plans. These will be included in the next quarterly release planned for publication on 19th March 2015 covering the period up to the end of December 2014.

Wind Power: Yorkshire and the Humber

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many wind turbines have been installed in the Yorkshire and Humber region between (a) 2005-10 and (b) 2010-15.

Matthew Hancock: The Department does not hold information on when and where individual wind turbines are installed. YearNo. of turbines200530220062022007280200831420092292010293201124520125962013671201434020156

Energy: Prices

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of the ability of community energy co-operatives to deliver reduced energy prices in the UK and in comparable countries.

Amber Rudd: This Government is committed to community energy and launched the first Community Energy Strategy in January 2014. A key commitment of that Strategy is to undertaken a sector survey in 2016 which will investigate a wide range of community energy benefits.

Energy: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households have received support through the Energy Companies Obligation in (a) Bradford East constituency and (b) Bradford to date.

Amber Rudd: The Department has reported that the provisional number of households in receipt of ECO measures in Bradford East constituency was 5,414, up to 30th September 2014 (the second highest number of households in receipt of ECO measures in all Parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain). In Bradford Local Authority there were 15,935 households in receipt of ECO measures, up to 30th September 2014.The statistics referred to can be found in Tables 1.11e and 1.11d at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-september-2014The next quarterly release covering the period up to the end of December 2014 will be published on 19th March 2015.

Climate Change

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the UK's progress towards meeting its 2020 targets established under the Climate Change Act 2008.

Amber Rudd: The Climate Change Act 2008 requires that the carbon budget period including the year 2020 must be such that the annual equivalent of the carbon budget is at least 34% lower than the 1990 baseline. The third carbon budget covers the 2020 target and it was set at a level needed to meet this requirement.The Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes emissions projections each Autumn. Last year’s report confirmed that the UK has met the first carbon budget and is on track to achieve the second and third carbon budgets, based on the projected impact of already announced and funded policies.

Procurement

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total value of contracts his Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Amber Rudd: The information requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost. Contracts of the Department are published on the Cabinet Office Website which can be found at:www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk.The Department would be able to provide further contract information by narrowing the scope, if specific procurement projects were identified.

Cabinet Office

Emergency Services

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that the change in definition of ambulance in Government Amendment 43 of the House of Lords Committee stage of the Deregulation Bill will continue to permit private ambulance and medical providers to operate (a) conventional ambulances and (b) fast response cars and motorbikes under blue lights.

Mr Oliver Letwin: The relevant clause now contained in the Deregulation Bill is not intended to have any effect on the existing legal status of ambulances, including those used by the private or voluntary sector. Conventional ambulances may continue to use blue lights and be exempt from certain road traffic provisions when responding to emergencies. The amendments in the Bill continue to allow vehicles dispatched by the NHS ambulance services (including vehicles that private ambulance and medical providers operate), that are not ambulances, by allowing them to use blue lights and extending the road traffic exemptions to them.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has undertaken a post-legislative analysis of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation by local authorities of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Cabinet Office asked Lord Young of Graffham, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise, to conduct a review of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.  The report, published on 13 February, shows the Act is having a positive effect where it is taken up. It finds that a number of local authorities have taken a leading role in implementing social value and names Durham Council as an example.  The report makes a number of recommendations. The Government is considering these to ensure that the Act fulfils its full potential.

Conditions of Employment

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many individuals of each ethnic group were on zero-hour contracts in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Zero Hour Contracts
(PDF Document, 143.25 KB)

Toxic Shock Syndrome

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many teenage girls and women died in each of the last five years from toxic shock syndrome caused by tampon use.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Tampon Use
(PDF Document, 107.61 KB)

Minimum Wage

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) men and (b) women were earning the minimum wage in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Minimum Wage
(PDF Document, 233.88 KB)

Minimum Wage

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people were earning the minimum wage in each ethnic group in each of the last five years; and what proportion of people earning the minimum wage were in each ethnic group in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Minimum Wage
(PDF Document, 108.3 KB)

Childbirth and Perinatal Mortality

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) live births and (b) stillbirths have been recorded in England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Live Births and Stillbirths
(PDF Document, 100.42 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 January 2015 from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regards to Mrs J Heron.

Mrs Helen Grant: A reply to his letter dated 7 January 2015 was issued to the Right Hon. Member for Manchester Gorton on 16 February 2015.

Battle of Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to commemorate the tercentenary of the Battle of Preston in 1715.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS does not have any plans to commemorate the tercentenary of the Battle of Preston. However, Government does recognise the importance of events like the Battle of Preston, and through the Heritage Lottery Fund, have made £10m available for projects marking some of the UK’s most important anniversaries and commemorative events. Details on how to apply to this contestable fund can be found here - http://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/news-features/funding-anniversaries

Broadband: Devon

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of superfast broadband in Devon has been implemented by (a) BDUK and (b) BT commercially; and what estimate he has made of such figures at the end of (i) 2015 and (ii) 2017.

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of Devon has access to superfast broadband; and what estimate he has made of what proportion of Devon will be covered by superfast broadband by the end of (a) 2015 and (b) 2017.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom is responsible for monitoring the UK broadband market and reported that superfast broadband was available to 45% of premises in Devon by June 2014. This could mostly be attributed to BT’s commercial roll-out. The Government’s superfast broadband project for Devon and Somerset aims to deliver coverage to 211,000 superfast premises by the end of 2015. The project will increase coverage within the project area to 89% superfast by the end of 2016. This will be made up of commercial and publicly subsidised network build. Coverage beyond the end of the current project will depend on the result of the phase 2 procurement process. The Government has allocated £22.75m for the phase 2 project which the local authorities have committed to match with local and European funding. In addition, Luxborough in Exmoor, Somerset is hosting a Government funded Market Test Pilot, which will soon be providing superfast satellite broadband services to over 200 premises. This will provide valuable information on how to take coverage even further by demonstrating the delivery of superfast broadband in the most commercially challenging locations.

Deputy Prime Minister

Devolution: Greater Manchester

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what his specific responsibilities are in regards to the Greater Manchester devolution agreement and the appointment and election of a city-region mayor.

Greg Clark: I have been asked, on behalf of the Government, to lead engagement with all areas of England that are considering taking advantage of greater devolution of powers to best shape their environment to maximise growth.I am also overseeing the implementation of the devolution agreements with Greater Manchester and Sheffield.I report to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Department of Health

Clacton Hospital

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the long-run sustainability of the maternity unit at Clacton Hospital.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Between May 2010 and November 2014, the number of midwives in England rose by 2,231 or 11.1% and the number of midwives in the East of England area rose by 380 or 20.5%.   The provision of local health services is a matter for local National Health Service organisations. NHS North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), in collaboration with Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, undertook a public consultation on the provision of maternity services locally, including the maternity unit at Clacton Hospital, from 15 October to 10 December 2014.   The purpose of the consultation, called Right Start, is to improve upon the good care already provided and deliver services that are safe, clinically effective and provide a good patient experience. An independently chaired panel will meet on 27 February 2015 to receive the consultation analysis report and make a recommendation to the CCG and Trust boards. Whatever outcome is reached, the CCG and Trust aim to ensure women have a choice of where to have their babies.   All NHS service changes should be led by clinicians and be in the best interests of patients, not driven from the top down. The Government has set out strengthened criteria that we expect any significant changes to NHS services to meet. Proposals should demonstrate support from clinical commissioners, strengthened public and patient engagement, clarity on the clinical evidence base and support for patient choice.

General Practitioners: Essex

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of practice staff working in GP surgeries in North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are now 36,294 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) working and training in the National Health Service, an increase of 1,051 (3.0%) since September 2010 and a commitment to train and retain 5,000 additional GPs by 2020.   NHS England is working with the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, and Health Education East Of England to increase the number of practice staff working in GP surgeries across north east Essex.   NHS England is also working with the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the British Medical Association nationally to produce a 10 point action plan to increase the size of the general practice workforce, which this Government has supported with £10 million of funding.

General Practitioners: Essex

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase the number of GPs in North East Essex.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are now 36,294 full-time equivalent general practitioners (GPs) working and training in the National Health Service, an increase of 1,051 (3.0%) since September 2010 and a commitment to train and retain 5,000 additional GPs by 2020.   NHS England has commissioned a project specifically for the Tendring area to review the current local workforce capacity and options to correct any deficiencies in GP workforce capacity.   NHS England, Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) GP committee are working together nationally to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice. In January, NHS England announced a further £10 million investment to expand the general practice workforce.   HEE is also working with NHS England, the BMA and RCGP to standardise a funded scheme which allows GPs to return to United Kingdom general practice following a career break. We expect this to be launched nationally at the end of March 2015. 43 doctors have already completed this scheme.

Lung Cancer

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people presented at A&E who were subsequently diagnosed as suffering from lung cancer in (a) the Nottingham area and (b) the UK in the last 12 months.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the National Cancer Intelligence Network produces estimates of emergency cancer admissions broken down by cancer type and clinical commissioning group which is available at:   http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v107/n8/full/bjc2012408a.html

In Vitro Fertilisation

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to require the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to produce further regular scientific reviews of the evidence concerning the safety and effectiveness of mitochondrial donation.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 require the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to assess each application for mitochondrial donation on a case-by-case basis. This will include consideration of the evidence of safety and effectiveness.

In vitro fertilisation

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to review the Mitochondrial Donation Regulations 2015 in the event that (a) research by Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov at Oregon Health and Science University and (b) other research in non-human primates shows pro-nuclear transfer to be unsafe or ineffective.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 require the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to assess each application for mitochondrial donation on a case-by-case basis. This will include consideration of the evidence of safety and effectiveness.

Medical Equipment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Dispensing Appliance Contractor licenses were issued over the last 10 years in England.

George Freeman: There are no licensing requirements to open a private dispensing appliance contractor business. NHS England has, since April 2013, been responsible for determining whether a dispensing appliance contractor should be granted the right to provide National Health Service pharmaceutical services under the criteria set out in the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/349, as amended.   The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) publishes statistical bulletins on General Pharmaceutical Services in England. These include data on the number of applications approved by the NHS concerning appliances only which include applications to relocate existing premises or to change ownership as well as applications from businesses to be approved to provide services for appliances only as part of NHS pharmaceutical services.   Table 5a of the HSCIC’s General Pharmaceutical Services in England - 2004-05 to 2013-14 bulletin published in November 2014 shows that, between September 2012 and March 2014, a total of 27 applications concerning all categories of applications for appliances only were approved by the NHS. This is available on the HSCIC website at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/genphasernov14. However, data are not available on how many of these approvals were subsequently actually actioned by the successful applicants concerned.   Data on the number of NHS approvals for applications concerning appliances only for earlier years is available in the General Pharmaceutical Services in England - 2003-04 to 2012-13 bulletin. This is available on the HSCIC website at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/pharmser1213. However, these data are not directly comparable with the data in the 2013-14 bulletin as they relate to approvals by NHS Primary Care Trusts under different regulatory criteria to those now in force.   The total number of appliance contractors on NHS pharmaceutical lists in England as at 31 March 2014 was 112 of which all were actively dispensing. This information is available in Table 10 of the General Pharmaceutical Services in England - 2003-04 to 2012-13 bulletin.

Prostate Cancer

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in access to prostate cancer treatments since 2012.

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in access to colon cancer treatments since 2012.

George Freeman: Since April 2013, NHS England has been the responsible commissioner for chemotherapy and radiotherapy services, together with a number of specialist surgical services, which include some complex urology and colorectal cancer surgeries. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the diagnostic pathway and some surgeries for both colorectal and urological cancers.   NHS England routinely commissions a range of anti-cancer drug treatments for both colorectal and prostate cancer. These are drug indications that have either been recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance, or have been considered as routine practice in the treatment of these cancers for many years.   NICE is the independent body that assesses the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for routine use in the National Health Service. NICE has recommended the following treatments for prostate cancer through its technology appraisal process since 1 January 2012:   - abiraterone (Zytiga) for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen; and - enzalutamide (Xtandi) for metastatic hormone‑relapsed prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel‑containing regimen.   NICE is in the process of appraising the following treatments:   - sipuleucel-T (Provenge) for the first line treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer; - degarelix depot (Firmagon) for treating advanced hormone dependent prostate cancer; - enzalutamide for treating metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy; and - radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) for hormone relapsed prostate cancer with bone metastases.   NICE is currently reviewing technology appraisal guidance on cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix) for the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and expects to publish updated final guidance on these treatments in April 2016.   In addition to routinely commissioned treatments, the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) provides access to other treatments that would not normally be available.   From April 2013, NHS England assumed operational responsibility for the CDF. As of 19 January 2015, the following drugs are available through the national CDF list for the treatment of prostate cancer:   - abiraterone; - cabazitaxel (Jevtana); - enzalutamide; and - radium-223 dichloride.   Cabizitaxel is due to be removed from the national CDF list on 12 March 2015.   The following drugs are also available through the national CDF list for the treatment of colorectal cancer:   - aflibercept (Zaltrap); - bevacizumab (Avastin); - cetuximab; and - panitumumab.   Aflibercept, bevacizumab as a first-line treatment and cetuximab as a second- or third-line treatment with combination chemotherapy are due to be removed from the national CDF list on 12 March 2015.   Since April 2013, there has been progress in meeting the Government’s commitment to increase patient access to inverse planned Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). The success of this planned expansion of access is demonstrated in the increased number of IMRT episodes (patients), which has risen from just over 8,500 per year in 2012-13 to a projected figure of over 25,000 in 2014-15 of which around 40% of these patients are treated with IMRT for prostate cancer.   NHS England has not altered the service specification or published any commissioning policies which have altered those colorectal cancer surgical services that fall within the remit of specialised commissioning.

Cancer: Drugs

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS England to publish the third quarter figures for Cancer Drugs Fund notifications and individual Cancer Drugs Fund requests for 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that it expects to publish the third quarter figures for Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) notifications and individual CDF requests for 2014-15 on its website at: www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/ by the end of February 2015.   Since October 2010, over 60,000 patients in England have benefitted from the CDF.

Meningitis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the annual cost of Meningitis B to (a) the NHS and (b) social care.

Jane Ellison: The impact of meningococcal B disease to the National Health Service and social care were included as part of the estimated cost effectiveness analysis by Christensen et al. in their study published in the BMJ on 10 October 2014, ‘Re-evaluating cost effectiveness of universal meningitis vaccination (Bexsero) in England: modelling study’ (BMJ 2014; 349: g5725).

Fertility

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Clinical Commissioning groups are wholly compliant with NICE guidance on the provision of fertility treatment.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is not collected centrally. The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups.   NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many IVF cycles have been provided on the NHS in England in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that the number of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles that have been provided on the National Health Service in England in each year since 2010 is set out in the table below.   YearNHS-funded IVF cycles201020,828201121,397201221,242201322,340201422,238   Note: Figures includes cycles in which embryos were created by IVF but not actually transferred to the patient.

General Practitioners

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many of the pilots in the Prime Minister's Challenge Fund are not yet fully operational.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that all 20 of the pilots in wave one of the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund are delivering improved access to general practice, including additional appointments on evenings and weekends. In addition, some of the pilots continue to work on further improvements that will benefit patients such as the development of healthcare apps.

Social Services

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that local authorities commission adult social care services at an hourly rate which provides for staff to receive the national minimum wage and includes travel time between clients.

Norman Lamb: High quality, compassionate care for the most vulnerable in society can only be delivered by a well-trained, motivated and appropriately remunerated workforce. The Government recognises that pay can be a particular concern for those with the responsibility for delivering those services.   Care providers are legally obliged to pay their workers at least the national minimum wage - relevant time spent travelling between care appointments should be treated as working time for national minimum wage purposes in accordance with HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) guidance. This is the least that care workers deserve and should expect.   Responsibility for enforcement of the national minimum wage rests with HMRC rather than local authorities. However, the Care Act places duties on local authorities to have regard to fostering an effective workforce able to deliver high quality services.   The Government has recently published statutory guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act that describes how local authorities must meet these new duties when commissioning, which directs that local authorities should have evidence that care providers they contract with are paying at least the national minimum wage, including factoring into those calculations any time spent travelling between care appointments and that those providers found to be recently in breach of the law, should be excluded from the contract tendering process.   The Government has also worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to co-produce a set of commissioning standards that were launched in October 2014. These standards amplify the good practice set out in the statutory guidance in regards to fostering an effective workforce.

Medical Treatments

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients deemed to have critical need are not affected by the time taken by NHS England to draft a new commissioning policy for ultra-rare treatments.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services and is currently consulting on changes to the principles and processes by which it makes decisions on prioritising investment in specialised services.   NHS England has provided assurance that any prioritisation which is urgent on clinical grounds will continue to be dealt with quickly through their existing procedures. The route for individual funding requests remains in place.   The consultation can be found at:   www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/investing-in-specialised-commissioning

Health: Tower Hamlets

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what public health grant was awarded to Tower Hamlets in each year from 2005-06 to 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: Tower Hamlets, in line with other local authorities, has only been in receipt of a public health ring fenced grant since 1 April 2013. In 2013/14 Tower Hamlets received a grant of £31,382,000.

St Bartholomews NHS Trust

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Barts' Trust has paid for locum staff in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested. Total earnings for locum doctors, at Barts Health NHS Trust for the period April 2012 to October 2014 are shown in the following table.April 2012 to October 2012November 2012 to October 2013November 2013 to October 2014 All locum doctors£3,808,133£4,810,950£4,037,180Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS Staff Earnings Estimates.   Notes:  Data prior to April 2012, when the present merged Barts Health NHS Trust opened, are not available.   These figures represent payments made using the Electronic Staff Record system to National Health Service staff who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations.

Liver Diseases

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis of hepatic encephalopathy.

Jane Ellison: Hepatic encephalopathy is an important end stage complication of liver disease. Monitoring at a national level is difficult because there is no specific code in the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases system (ICD10). The ICD10 guide recommends that patients with hepatic encephalopathy are classified as K72.9; hepatic failure, un-specified. Public Health England is working on raising the profile of hepatic encephalopathy with the Lancet Commission.

Liver Diseases

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the strategy for combating liver disease referred to by the Prime Minister on the 10 Downing Street website on 28 July 2011 has not been published.

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Lancet Commission report on liver disease, published on 27 November 2014.

Jane Ellison: Whilst NHS England is responsible for the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes for people with liver disease, Public Health England (PHE) is working with the Lancet Commission on Liver Disease. This work involves regular meetings with Professor Richard Williams, (Lead, Lancet Standing Commission into Liver Disease in the UK), and attending action planning meetings.   PHE is working with NHS England and liver charities to respond to the key recommendations of the Lancet Commission and will produce a Liver Disease Framework in summer 2015 outlining the scope of its activities.   This will cover PHEs extensive programme of activities to tackle the three main risk factors for liver disease: alcohol, obesity and Hepatitis B & C; work with the Lancet Commissioners and GPs to strengthen detection and interventions for early stage liver disease and for identification of high risk patients; support a national needs assessment for liver disease services in the NHS.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an estimate of the change in the number of donor eggs that will be required by the authorisation of mitochondrial donation.

Jane Ellison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Tyneside (Mrs Mary Glindon) to PQ 208397 on 11 September 2014.

Fertility: Drugs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2015 to Question HL4441, whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority imposed sanctions on clinics that had administered reagents to permitted gametes or permitted embryos that are then introduced into patients when the reagents concerned had not been CE marked; and when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was notified of such instances documented in inspection reports.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it has not been necessary to impose any regulatory sanctions in relation to the use of non CE marked reagents or products, as the clinics in question have given a commitment, as part of the inspection process, to use alternative CE marked products. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is not notified of individual instances as reported in inspection reports, as its responsibilities relate to the manufacturers of these products not the users.

Disability Aids

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) patients and (b) patients with life-limiting conditions have (i) been assessed by each specialised augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) provider and (ii) had equipment provided by each specialised AAC provider since 5 December 2014.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) patients and (b) patients with life-limiting conditions have (i) been assessed by each specialised augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) provider and (ii) had equipment provided by each specialised AAC provider in each month since 1 October 2014.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate he has made of the number of patients (a) on waiting lists and (b) with motor neurone disease on waiting lists at each specialised augmentative and alternative communication provider.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the waiting times for (a) all patients and (b) patients with motor neurone disease have been at each specialised augmentative and alternative communication provider for (i) the assessment and (ii) the provision of equipment in each month since October 2013.

Norman Lamb: NHS England has advised that information concerning the number of patients either waiting for an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) equipment assessment or who have had an AAC assessment (and subsequently had equipment provided) received is not collected centrally.   Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for commissioning AAC aids for patients with complex disability whose needs require specialised assessment.   For 2014/15 NHS England identified an additional £22.5 million for AAC and environmental controls (devices which manage functions or appliances in a particular environment, usually the home) and the identification of providers was completed last August last year. The 13 AAC providers selected are currently recruiting the additional specialist therapy staff needed to deliver this service many now have new staff now in post or due to start in the next few months.   All 13 of the providers have confirmed that they are accepting referrals and multi-disciplinary assessments are being offered to patients. Priority is being given to patients who have a life limiting condition and every effort is being made to clear any backlog of patients waiting for assessments and to improve waiting times.

Cancer: Drugs

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 221865, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on future cancer patient outcomes of using alternative cancer drugs fund drugs and conventional treatments instead of any of the treatments due to be delisted.

George Freeman: The Department has not made any such assessment. NHS England considers that the changes it is making to the drugs available on the Cancer Drugs Fund national list will deliver the greatest benefit to cancer patients and ensure that more patients will be able to access the latest drugs that provide better outcomes for their cancers.

Colorectal Cancer

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made towards full roll-out of the bowel scope screening programme by the end of 2016.

Jane Ellison: As at the end of December 2014, 25,828 bowel scope screening (BSS) procedures had been performed and 1,154 people had been referred to colonoscopy following BSS, with 25 cancers detected. A further 370 people were identified with low risk polyps.   As set out in the fourth annual report of Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (December 2014), NHS England are working with Public Health England to help deliver the involvement of screening centres sufficient to meet the 60% commitment by March 2015 and to support preparatory steps in other screening centres to implement by the end of 2016.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the provision of counselling and support to those with Crohn's disease.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the incidence of Crohn's disease.

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no assessment of the incidence of Crohn’s disease. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2012 guideline Crohn’s Disease Management in Adults, Children and Young People, states that there are currently at least 115,000 people in the United Kingdom with Crohn's disease.   The NICE guideline sets out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with Crohn’s disease. This includes, ‘Minimising psychological concerns and possible side effects of treatment are fundamental to best practice for all people with Crohn's disease, whatever their age’, which could include access to psychological support, if appropriate. The guideline also recommends that clinicians give patients with Crohn’s disease contact details for relevant support groups. The full guideline can be found at the following link: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg152.

Colorectal Cancer

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218494, what the reasons were for the reduction in the number of flexible sigmoidoscopy tests carried out in 2013-14 compared to 2012-13.

Jane Ellison: The reasons for the reduction in the number of flexible sigmoidoscopy tests carried out in 2013-14 compared to 2012-13 may relate to a number of factors, including variations in data recording and changes in professional practice.   Latest available data for 2014-15 (April 2014 to December 2014) shows an increase of 5% in the number of flexible sigmoidoscopy tests carried out compared to the same period in 2013-14.

Radiotherapy

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2014 to Question 218419 on radiotherapy, how many individual funding requests were (a) received and (b) declined for stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has only commissioned stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy since it was formally established on 1 April 2013. Information relating to 2013-14 was provided in the response to Question 218419.

Psoriasis

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 261-3W, on psoriasis, what the conclusions were of the NICE Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set Advisory Committee's review of potential indicators for psoriasis derived from the NICE Psoriasis Quality Standard.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 261-3W, on psoriasis, what indicators have been proposed to the NICE Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set Advisory Committee for psoriasis.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 261-3W, on psoriasis, what development to Read codes was found to be necessary by the Health and Social Care Information Centre to support the indicators proposed for psoriasis.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set (CCG OIS) Advisory Committee considered the following draft psoriasis indicators, derived from the NICE Psoriasis Quality Standard, at its meeting in October 2014:   - PSO 5.1 Psoriasis: assessment for psoriatic arthritis; - PSO 6.2 Skin disease: time off school or work due to skin disease; - PSO 6.3 Psoriasis: skin clearance; and - PSO 3.2 Psoriasis: Patient experience: access to secondary care services.   It was the decision of the committee that the indicators did not meet the prioritisation criteria, as set out in the NICE Indicator Process guide. The primary reason for this was that the majority of care for people with psoriasis is provided in primary care and the CCG OIS is focused on care provided in secondary care. As such, the committee has not put forward any of the psoriasis indicators for further development and testing by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). The HSCIC has not, therefore, undertaken any further work on the development of Read Codes for this topic.   The NICE indicator process guide and the NICE consultation document setting out those indicators which did meet the prioritisation criteria can be found at the links below:   www.nice.org.uk/media/03E/31/Indicators_process_guide.pdf www.nice.org.uk/media/default/Standards-and-indicators/CCGOIS-indicator-consultation.pdf

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2014 to Question 216131, what processes will be used to promote specialised commissioning expenditure against nominal clinical commissioning groups budgets; and how the present central NHS England budget for commissioning dialysis services will be transferred to clinical commissioning groups.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transfer of kidney dialysis commissioning to local clinical commissioning groups on future capital funding for maintenance and renewal of dialysis facilities and equipment.

Jane Ellison: Significant work has been undertaken by NHS England to analyse current specialised commissioning expenditure patterns at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. This CCG level monitoring will continue in 2015/16 with the aim of improving commissioning decisions.   There is no planned transfer of renal dialysis budgets from NHS England to CCGs in either the current financial year or during 2015-16. It is for Ministers to decide, with independent advice, the conditions that should be on the specialised commissioning list.   Neither NHS England specialised commissioners nor CCGs have control over capital funding for dialysis facilities and maintenance. Capital funding for renewal of dialysis facilities and equipment remains with the incumbent providers. Ensuring that these facilities are of appropriate quality is achieved through the application of detailed service specifications which form part of the contract with providers.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2015 to Question 223644, how many children who (a) were admitted to a hospital bed because of a psychiatric condition and (b) attended A&E with a diagnosis of psychiatric conditions were not attending for the first time.

Norman Lamb: We do not hold the data in the format requested. However, outlined below is a count of patients admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of a mental and behavioural disorder, and a count of patients who attended accident and emergency (A&E) (excluding planned attendances) with a diagnosis of a psychiatric condition: once, twice, three, four and five or more times within the same year, for patients aged 0-18 who were admitted to hospital or attended A&E for 2010/11-2013/14.   Count of patients aged 0-18 (inclusive) who have been admitted to hospital once, twice, three, four and five or more times within the given year with a primary diagnosis of a mental and behavioural disorder for the years 2010/11 to 2013/14   Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English National Health Service commissioned activity in the independent sectorNumber of admissions2010/112011/122012/132013/1418,3107,9318,1088,604273375477591131821911801954626358665+15016215594Total patients9,4379,1019,2769,870 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)   Count of patients aged 0-18 (inclusive) who have attended A&E (excluding planned attendances) once, twice, three, four and five or more times within the given year with an A&E diagnosis of ‘psychiatric conditions’ for the years 2010/11 to 2013/14Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector Number of attendances2010/112011/122012/132013/1417,0168,66910,10212,29826388161,0241,377313418724232545462751275+647367119Total patients7,9069,80711,51014,246   Source: HES, HSCIC   Notes:  1. Since a patient may attend A&E and then be admitted to hospital the figures from the two tables should not be added together. 2. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002/03 to 2006/07 and seven prior to 2002/03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD-10 codes used: F00-F99 mental and behavioural disorders excluding F17 - mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco. 3. HES figures are available from 1989/90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006/07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. 4. The following code was used to identify psychiatric conditions within the A&E dataset: 35 = psychiatric conditions. Please note that the recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice. 5. HES figures are available from 2007/08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012/13 includes activity occurring between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013. 6. HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.

Autism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to provide additional support for girls with autism.

Norman Lamb: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on autism recommends a multi-disciplinary diagnostic pathway, involving different professionals according to the child’s presentation, and it highlights that girls are an at-risk group for under-diagnosis.   Responsibility sits with clinical commissioning groups to ensure that diagnostic services are commissioned in their area in accordance with the NICE guidance.

Autism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that sufficient numbers of clinicians capable of diagnosing and treating autism are being trained in (a) Hull and (b) England.

Norman Lamb: It is the responsibility of local employers to ensure that they have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills available to provide a high quality service to their patients. Locally there should be specialist training for those in roles that have a direct impact on and make decisions about people with autism.   This will be re-enforced in new statutory guidance on autism for local authorities and the National Health Service which is to be issued shortly. In addition clinical staff such as psychiatrists and clinical psychologists should be undertaking their own clinical professional development. In support of this Health Education England will provide support in raising awareness of autism. In Hull, the clinical commissioning group is working with local providers, particularly Humber NHS Foundation Trust, to recruit additional staff for its Autism Diagnosis Team.

Autism: Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce will examine the specific issue of challenges accessing a diagnostic assessment for children with suspected autism.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce will examine local commissioning of autism services.

Norman Lamb: The Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce has nearly completed its work - a Government report of the Taskforce’s work including key findings and proposals will be published in the spring.   The remit of the Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce is set out in its published Terms of Reference, available at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-well-being-taskforce#terms-of-reference   The Government established the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce to look at how to improve access to mental health services that are more responsive to children and young people’s needs, though was not intended to address specific health conditions. However, the Taskforce did have a particular focus on the needs of the most vulnerable children, including those with learning disabilities and those with autistic spectrum disorder.   The Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce also addressed what changes were needed in commissioning services for children and young people with mental health conditions though were not asked to address this in relation to specific health conditions.